#be:ngs2p3

“i know that you will be judging their stage presence and character, and YUNA will be paying attention to their basic skills, but i’m genuinely looking for someone who can take one of these iconic songs and make us forget about the original,” jihun explains to his fellow judges. “anyone can simply cover any of these. they’re popular, everyone knows how to sing and dance to them. but how can our contestants take this base and make it something completely their own? that’s what i’m looking for.”

the two female judges nod their heads in understanding. “last year’s FROST team showcased something similar,” yuna, the representative of lime entertainment, reminds her fellow judges. a short clip of the performance from last year reminds the viewers in case they hadn’t tuned in before.

“exactly,” jihun explains. “they remixed the song and created a new story with their stage concept. and their performance was impeccable. that’s the sort of performance i’d like to see from all of our teams today. i’m hopeful that they’ll make this a hard decision for us.”

“we’ll see,” yuna smiles tightly, as if unconvinced that they’ll truly be impressed by each and every one of the current contestants.

“it looks like our first group battle is the representatives from your company,” ran nods towards yuna after glancing at her cue cards. 

as if on cue, jian calls their attention from the stage. “our first battle will be between TEAM A and TEAM B for CAKE by PRIZM,” she announces. the two teams file on stage from either side, joining jian as she stands in the center. “do you have anything you’d like to say to your teammates or the competition before we begin?”

she takes a moment to let each team member say a few words, encouraging one another or challenging their rivals, and all of the reactions that entails.

“now, if we’re all ready to begin, let’s see TEAM A’s performance,” she announces, gesturing to her left side and the three contestants lead by LEE SEOJUN.

as the contestants and emcee file off stage, the scene changes to the preparations for this battle. it was a hard week for both teams, it seems, as short cuts of both HWANG YEJUN and KIM ARA on the verge of tears in the practice rooms flit across the screen. just what could have caused the heartbreak and tragedy during practice?

the camera decides to focus on YAMAMOTO KAITO first anyway, showing the young man seeking out his designated coach for help with his vocals.

“i wanted to do my best to not only improve myself, but to also not let my teammates down,” kaito explains to the camera in the interview room. “i know i still need to work harder to get my singing up.”

“make sure to sing from your diaphragm. it helps with controlling your breathing,” seojun explains to the contestant. they practice that for a moment before seojun recommends another technique: “humming and lip buzzing are easy ways to warm up your voice,” he suggests. the pair work through a few exercises for a moment before the scene changes again.

kaito comes across as a very diligent contestant. he and KIM ARA put their heads together as they start discussing the concepts for their performance.

“had a chance to think anything up?” ara asks, “wouldn’t mind brainstorming up concepts with you before we bring it back to our coach and the team.”

“maybe we could put our own little 'twist’ on the concept?” he suggests, “something different than the judges are even used to seeing… how does this look?” kaito stops playing with his phone and shows something on the screen to ara. “we could even throw in some concepts that others usually wouldn’t do? maybe like volleyball players, basketball players?”

the two continue to work together on the concept of their performance, throwing ideas between them. “i know that this is a competition,” kaito’s voice is overlaid on the scene where he’s writing down all of the ideas they’re sharing between them, “but we're still a team and have to rely on each other for what we each lack in.”

it’s ara, seen sitting in the interview room, who reveals the concept they decided on. “we ended up determining that we could do something that really showcases us as a unit, so we ended up as a volleyball team,” she explains, “our outfits were comfortable and cute in the end! and we changed some of our hand movements to match the sports moves.”

it seems that the highlight of this team was seojun’s patience and leadership. during a completely different practice session, it’s YOON EUNWOL who’s calling for aid. "seojun… help," he pleads with his coach. rather than ask for help with his performance, however, it appears that his problem is the sheer amount of food he has balanced in his arms. "i have made a grave error." it’s a bit comedic, to say the least.

however, figuring out how to make the food disappear among the four-person team turns out to be the least of their concerns. 

"i really, really don't want to get yelled at, I haven't been yelled at since bootcamp,” he confesses to seojun. "i can dance a bit? just a bit?" he pinches his fingers together, gesturing how little confidence he has in that particular ability. seojun is quick to reassure him, of course.

“seeing everyone learning what i did before just makes me happy,” seojun’s voice is heard over a clip of him helping eunwol with the choreography. “and i like being able to help do so.”

“when I felt I was behind or messing up I just looked to him and without a mean word he would help,” eunwol’s voice is heard as well, and the scene fades to him sitting in the interview room. “it is nice how someone can give advice without being rude, hmm?”

the last comment is clearly loaded, implying it was meant to be heard by someone else’s ears other than the staff conducting the interviews. as if on cue, the scene shifts back to eunwol’s conversation with seojun. "that judge had the nerve to tell me to go because I am scared to be here…” he complains aloud to his coach.

to remind the audience what eunwol’s talking about, a clip of jihun’s harsh words about eunwol from last episode plays again: “if you don’t want to be here, you’re welcome to leave. there’s thousands of children and young adults around the world who want to be exactly in the spot you’re in right now. if you’re not grateful for this opportunity, you may as well do them a favor and drop out now.”

seojun, to his credit, responds very diplomatically. “sometimes being unique for a challenge is good but some you gotta follow the dance as it is.”

as this portion of the broadcast seems to be wrapping up, eunwol takes over the sceen in the interview room once more. “i do have a question,” he asks the staff. “do the judges get to know us? i never saw the first season… i assumed the judges would interact more with us, and would want to get to know us.”

an awkward pause follows his question, no answer seemingly given at this time.

finally, the scene shifts to reveal just what that scene of ara’s tears had been from the beginning of the episode. she leaves practice abruptly, the redness in her face a clear sign of her frustration. ara doesn’t make it far, certainly not past the watchful eyes of the cameras, when she buries her face in her hands. is she crying?

“hey, you feeling alright?” seojun is the only one to approach her during her emotionally fragile time. “whatever is on your mind, i’m here for you. tell me whatever you need to. i want the best for you and our team.”

ara hardly hesitates to let her fears and frustrations out into the world. maybe seojun is just that good of a comforting presence, or maybe she just really needed to let it out into the world. “the competition is just so fast paced, i’m… i’m trying not to let it get to me but i’m getting so overwhelmed.”

she does her best to hide her face, but the cameras catch a glimpse of tears regardless. “i want us to do well. i just want to do well,” she confesses.“the idea of elimination is also getting me even more anxious.”

“overthinking is too easy in a competition like this. all you can do is the best you can.” seojun tries to comfort her. “just do the best you can and i’d still be proud of you. i believe you got this.”

the scene remains unresolved, the viewer never knowing if ara will truly be alright after all of this or not.

the time for the first CAKE performance draws near and the team of four are seen on stage wearing the simple sporty uniforms that ara had described earlier. after a brief pause to create some tension, the music finally begins and the quartet begin to sing and dance.

“oh?” yuna’s brow furrows in a frown, the scene shifting mid-performance to her reaction. “but they didn’t change anything about the song?”

“they seemed to have gone for a sporty concept,” ran points out. “but isn’t that close to PRIZM’s concept in the first place?”

jihun says nothing, but his expression remains unimpressed.

the song is allowed to continue uninterrupted for the remainder of their performance. they do change up the choreography a bit, as ara had mentioned before, but ultimately the song remains mostly identical to PRIZM’s original performance of the number.

“i did everything i could and i know that rankings can still go up and down. but i did the best i could so i hope it shows.” ara’s voice is heard as the camera focuses on each and every contestant individually at the conclusion of their performance. it even captures eunwol’s wink and salute.

the contestants finally are given permission to relax as the lighting changes and the judges prepare to deliver their critique. 

“we’ll give you your individual critique first, and then our evaluation of the performance as a whole,” jihun explains to the first group up to perform. “i want to start with ARA. why are you holding back? don’t you know that this is a competition?”

the man sighs. “i hope we didn’t damage your confidence with anything we said before. i can tell that you were trying to blend well into your group, but instead you should have just made sure they could all perform on your level. don’t sell yourself short, that’s not how you’ll improve.”

“i agree, i would have liked to see more from you, ara,” ran’s words are much warmer, though she essentially says the same thing as jihun. “you’re a skilled performer. i feel like this choreography could have really shown off your top skills if you allowed it to. i hope to see more confidence from you in future performances.”

“my favorite parts were when you were in the center,” yuna smiles kindly. “i think we could all tell that’s when you let loose and went all-out. it’s smart of you to conserve energy when you’re not the main focus, too. but if you could do that without losing a bit of your spark… wow, you’d be unstoppable.”

“i also want to give props to KAITO,” yuna continues. “you’ve improved a lot in a short time. i think i can speak for all of the judges when i say that we noticed how much your vocals have improved in just a week.” she glances around to ran and jihun, who nod their agreement. “good job.”

jihun picks up his microphone to continue kaito’s critique next. “i would just caution you not to neglect your other skills while you’re trying to improve one,” he warns. “your vocals saw great improvement, but i didn’t notice anything special about your dancing this time. you could have done better.”

“i think you shine very brightly on stage,” ran compliments the contestant with a smile. “you were fun to watch during this performance. were you enjoying it?” she waits for a confirmation before continuing. “that’s what’s important. if you look happy while performing, your audience is going to feel that as well.”

“we weren’t actually planning to say too much about our coaches,” yuna speaks again, gesturing to seojun. “but i did quickly want to point out how great a job SEOJUN did at managing everyone for this performance. you can tell that the team worked well together under his leadership. you’re already much more experienced than the team you’re leading, so we won’t say too much about your performance skills, but kudos for being such a great team leader.” 

when it comes time for EUNWOL’s critique from the judges, jihun’s face goes dark again. “seojun,” he asks the coach instead of addressing the contestant immediately at first, “did you know that eunwol was going to make a cutesy gesture at the end of your performance? or did he decide that on his own once he was actually on stage?”

“you don’t want to be yelled at, but you keep doing things that make me want to scold you,” jihun’s full attention is directed at eunwol now. “do you think you’re better than us? smarter? i don’t think you fully grasp what this relationship is. you can consider next gen to be similar to a job interview. if you make it to the finale and are signed, i, or seo ran, or KWON JAEHYUN will be your boss. we are not here to make friends with you. we are here to push you to see how far your potential goes and if we want to make an investment in you to continue. right now, that investment seems like more trouble than it’s worth to me.”

hardly anyone dares to speak after jihun’s rant, and still so early in the episode. however, none of the judges look particularly happy with eunwol. perhaps sending shade toward one of the ceos was not the best move to make.

“we are getting to know you,” ran tries to explain in a more gentle manner, though even she seems a bit perturbed. “but as jihun said, we are not here to be your friends. we’re learning about you through what you show us on stage, and we’re monitoring your activities in practice. it’s not helpful to you or your growth at this point to sit down and ask your favorite color, let alone all of the other contestants we’re trying to help cultivate on this show. i hope you’re able to keep that in mind as we move forward.”

“i can speak from the perspective as a performer as well as one of the judges,” yuna frowns into her microphone. “you come across as extremely disrespectful, whether you mean to or not. it’s a trait that’s broken countless idols’ reputations with the public. no matter how hurt you are, how upset you may be with someone, it’s our responsibility to smile and say ‘thank you for your concern’ anyway. it doesn’t matter if you can sing or dance if your attitude is poor. and i do think you have the talent, you wouldn’t be here otherwise. i’m just not convinced you have the personality to survive this industry at this point.”

“as for your performance as a team,” jihun takes the lead on the critique again, “it’s unfortunate that you seemed to lack creativity as a whole. the song was identical, the choreography was only very minorly edited, and volleyball isn’t all that far off from PRIZM’s original concept. they’re a group with a rather sporty image, after all. i’m afraid i was a bit disappointed by that aspect of your performance.”

“while that may be true, i think you all worked well as a unit,” ran speaks the positive out into the world, hopefully cheering up the team that’s certainly been through enough scolding already. “you looked like you were enjoying the stage. i’d guess that a few of you are PRIZM fans? right?” she smiles as she waits for someone to admit to it. “well done.”

“you performance skills are certainly improving as well,” yuna adds. “if i didn’t know it myself, i might not have believed that was your first time performing on stage together as a group. as a whole, you complimented each other’s strengths and filled in for your weaknesses very well. it was an engaging performance, if not the most inspired.”

“thank you,” jian takes over, allowing team A a chance to bow and thank the judges before they’re instructed to leave the stage. “after the teamwork powerhouse and mvp captain seojun, how will TEAM B compare?”

the second team in question are seen waiting in the wings briefly before the scene changes to the practice rooms again.

ITO SEIRA is the first focus of the team, the young woman shown in two split screens asking almost the same question of her teammates: to CHAERIN, “think you could help me with the dance?” to YEJUN, she asks “wanna help me with my lines?”

the scene with yejun is the one that the editors decide to focus on first, blowing that section of the screen up until it takes over entirely. “you seem to be good at singing,” she flatters her teammate with a giggle, “and i’m really not.”

“i’ll help how i can,” yejun promises, a kindness about him. and he is a good singer; the scene cuts briefly to his practice sessions for this episode and previous ones, even his audition. he has one of the better voices on the show, with so many dancers present in this season. the editors seem to think it’s a shame that he hasn’t been featured more prominently before. he’s really only number fifteen? the captions question the judgment of the representatives from each company.

“there’s some parts where my voice is supposed to go up a lot, but my voice can’t really do that,” seira explains.

“it could be out of your range,” yejun suggests with a frown, seemingly concerned about the ability of his teammate. “you should be working on your scales, that’s basic for every musician and singer.” is he calling her out or giving genuine advice?

the scene shifts to her request of chaerin. the coach, of course, is happy to oblige. “that’s what i’m here for, right?” she answers seira.

LEE CHAERIN is popular among the contestants who can’t dance, it seems. YUWOL, yejun, and seira all come to her with concerns about looking awkward on stage. she takes her time  with each of them, diagnosing the unique problems in their performance and making gentle suggestions to help them improve. “i did spend the most time working on the choreography and dancing with everybody,” chaerin admits in the interview room. “while they're all talented in their own ways, it was clear that they didn't have too much experience dancing.”

the scene cuts to yejun and HAN YUWOL. while chaerin had just been explaining how talented her team is, even if that talent doesn’t necessarily include dance, yejun seems to be continuously messing up the piece that he and yuwol are practicing together. yuwol, to his credit, doesn’t seem to be getting frustrated even though he’s playing violin flawlessly. yejun, despite how adept he proved to be in his audition, looks like he forgot how to play the guitar overnight.

“sorry,” yejun apologizes, “i’m just… not feeling well, i guess.”

“were your parents supportive of your dreams to be a singer?” a disembodied voice is heard beyond the camera as yejun sits in front of the backdrop of the interview room. yejun smiles in a way that betrays how much that question hurts him.

“they’re not,” he admits. “i’ve wanted this since i was just a kid, though. i never really stopped thinking about that dream.”

yuwol stops their practice. “are you alright?” he asks. “i know you’re skilled with the guitar too. it’s not that you’re fumbling your playing… but something seems to be on your mind.”

“no, you’re right,” yejun sighs, “there is something on my mind. that call i just took? it was my parents. they’re fine, i just…” he trails off, seemingly choked up by his own words. just what had his parents said on the phone? at least the editors decide to respect his privacy that much. 

“there’s a big mental battle,” yejun’s voice is heard over a closeup on his own face, the camera just barely catching the tears that well up on his eyes, even if they never fall.

the scene shifts again, this time to yejun and chaerin as she helps him through his dance practice. “i’ll practice until my feet fall off… or i get it right. whatever comes first,” he promises her. 

“i’ve always loved music,” yejun’s voice is heard over the scene again. “knowing that this performance will be the first eliminations, and that it’s the first time i have a team that’s relying on me to do my best… it’s a lot of pressure, you know? i’m trying to stay focused on the important things and to just give my best performance no matter what.”

the scene shifts to the team on stage. unlike team A’s bright, sporty concept, team B has opted for a grungier look, akin to villains about to rob a bank. their beginning is also entirely different with yuwol holding his violin at the ready with the bow hovering just above the strings, yejun with his guitar, and seira seated behind a piano.

the lights go on and the music starts rather hauntingly, the chorus of cake reimaged as a band concept with chaerin singing the lyrics in a rather stylized way. they only perform like that for the duration of the chorus, however. the team sets down their instruments and steps forward on the stage to sing and dance PRIZM’s song as it was originally imagined, though the background music remains entirely different from the original.

“we added a twist to the song, constructed a scarier flavor for the concept we were going for. leaned into a thrilling story, following a few pop culture media we thought of. i am confident, i know we performed with our best.” yuwol’s voice is heard as the team strikes their final poses, the camera catching a close-up of each contestant as an ending fairy.

a short applause can be heard from the judges as the contestants finally relax, standing at attention for their critique.

“i suppose we should start with our feedback,” jihun announces, glancing at his fellow judges. “let’s start with… han yuwol.”

however, it’s yuna who gives feedback first. “there’s no doubt that you’ve already improved,” she smiles. “it looks like chaerin helped you a lot with your dance, did she?” she waits for confirmation before continuing. “it’s refreshing to see that you take our advice to heart and can actually make changes in your performance rather quickly. it’s an important trait for a trainee or idol to have.”

“whose idea was this concept?” ran asks, curious more than anything. “yuwol, do you have any acting experience? you suit this vibe surprisingly well… i don’t know if we should be concerned or not!” she laughs, joking with the contestants before continuing her review. “it’ll be interesting to see how you handle other concepts moving forward.”

finally, jihun says his piece. “your violin skills added to the unique stylization of this performance,” he seems to approve. “however, i want to caution you against relying on them for the remainder of the competition. it served you well this time, but we’re producing idols, not concert musicians. we’ll be observing your other performance skills more closely from now on.” well, at least it wasn’t a scolding.

“yejun, i’ll say the same word of caution to you with that guitar,” jihun changes his attention to another teammate. “don’t think i haven’t noticed your passion, though. i appreciate anyone who puts their entire life on the line to meet their dreams. there’s a sort of charm to desperation that can’t be taught.” it’s unclear whether jihun is giving a compliment of if he’s just revealing he’s a bit of a sadist.

“your abilities have improved as well,” yuna nods approvingly. “chaerin taught you all well, as expected of a lime entertainment trainee. you’re more stable than you were last time, which is great considering you have one of the better voices in this competition. it’s about time we finally let that show properly. great work.”

finally, ran picks up her microphone. “i just praised yuwol’s acting, but i’m afraid i’ll have to say the opposite of you. you looked a little too focused on singing and dancing that without the costume, i would have never known the story you were telling. i just want you to be a little more aware of your expression for future performances. it’s what makes a good performer truly great.”

“good job, yejun,” yuna cheers him on one last time before turning her attention to the final participant in this group. “ito seira…” she murmurs, “what are we going to do with you?”

“i suppose i should at least praise you for having the sense to seek out more experienced individuals to make up for where you lack,” yuna sighs, “but i really don’t think you need to be praised for that right now. aren’t you worried about holding your team back by asking them to practice twice as hard and teach you everything? collaboration is a good skill, but you need to learn how to improve on your own as well. yejun shouldn’t be teaching you the basics of singing when he needed to work on his performance too.”

“you shine on stage,” ran at least opens with something nicer to say, “it’s clear that you’re a performer. but… how do i say this…”

jihun interrupts with his own commentary: “the circus is also full of performers,” he deadpans, completely hijacking ran’s critique. “i hope you’re taking this seriously and not just goofing off during this opportunity. this is twice now that you’ve fallen during rehearsals after we’ve warned you to take better care of your body, isn’t it? i hope that you keep in mind that we’re looking for singers and dancers and not a court jester doing slapstick comedy.”

ran shoots jihun a sharp glare, her normally kind disposition shattered for a moment as her irritation with the man shows through. she doesn’t, however, correct anything that he says.

“did you re-record the entire track?” jihun asks the team. “who arranged that? considering the time you had to prepare everything, it wasn’t bad.” of course he can’t give an outright compliment, however he’s definitely giving more praise than he had to the other team. “this is the type of performance we were looking for with this mission. it was almost unrecognizable from the original.”

“i want to know more about the story,” ran’s frustration with her fellow ceo melts away quickly in front of the cameras, smiling at the team in front of the judges instead. “i feel like you all were halfway there with it. you could have modified the choreography to better tell the story of a heist, or fighting superheroes, or whatever it was you were doing. it was a bit hard to tell from our point of view.”

“i’ll admit, i forgot about PRIZM for a moment there,” yuna says with a smile. “if you had done something different with the choreography, i might have forgotten them entirely. this is how you take a song and make it your own. you played to your own talents well and made the song have a new meaning by introducing the darker concept. well done.”

instead of team b being dismissed following their performance as team a had been, both teams are called back to the stage as they had been in the very beginning. “i think it’s time to announce the winners of our first battle,” jian announces. “i have the rulings from the judges in my hand here. the winner of cake battle is…”

“TEAM B!”

there’s time for celebration and mourning between the two teams before jihun picks up his microphone once more. this is, after all, his specialty. “ultimately, it came down to who reimagined the song better,” he explains the reasoning. “and team b won by a landslide.”

“unfortunately, that means a member of team a will be sent home today,” jian draws the attention back to the stage. “we’re so sorry to see you go and hope that you continue your idol dreams, even if this was not the right opportunity for you at this time. the contestant eliminated is…”

well, that won’t be revealed until the end of the episode!

the scene changes abruptly to the next song battle, TEAM A and TEAM B for PINK VENOM now standing on either side of jian on stage as she announces that they’ll be participating in the next team battle. “wish your opponents luck,” she tells each team, giving each captain a ‘fighting’ gesture with her fist before team B is dismissed from the stage for the time being.

like the cake teams, it’s immediately apparent that the trainee coach was an important piece of the puzzle for TEAM A. ZHOU RENYI is a familiar face to returning fans from the previous seasons of next gen and it seems that his hardworking attitude has not faded in the slightest since becoming a trainee. he’s seen first helping HAN JUEUN with her vocal parts in the practice room, sitting behind a keyboard and plunking out the notes she’s meant to hit.

“it’s easy to go flat with this song,” he explains to his teammate. “it’s doesn’t really move out of those same three or four notes for the most part. so if you don’t support every single one, they’ll start to muddy together. especially when you start moving around with the dance.”

jueun begins singing along immediately, diligently practicing the notes as renyi had instructed her to. but his critique isn’t over yet; it seems that the studio delta trainees take after their ceo to a certain degree. “watch your english,” he warns, “the pronunciation of ‘this that’ and 'taste that’; they mean different things but right now i can’t hear the difference.”

“this that, taste that,” jueun repeats again, trying to get it right.

“better,” renyi finally relents. 

jueun isn’t the only contestant seeking out the former champion’s help; SONG JIAYI takes a moment during practice to strike up a conversation, asking the tough questions that may very well help her through this competition.

“what was the hardest part about last season?” she asks, was it performing, or something else?”

renyi takes his time, pausing for a gulp of water before he gives her the answers she’s looking for. he glances over, the camera following his eyes as they watch the other pink venom team practicing in the same room. “that guy over there,” he speaks in english at first, nose wrinkling up annoyedly. but he answers more seriously a moment later, back in korean for the viewers at home: “being in the public eye the whole time. my dream was always being a songwriter; i never really saw myself as anyone people would watch, or even want to watch.”

“i think renyi was a good mentor to us,” jiayi tell the cameras in the interview room. “i couldn’t have asked for better!”

“ren is a little intimidating at first because of his actual status,” ASAKURA TOUMA also sings ren’s praises in the same room, albeit without jiayi present. “but it’s clear he wants the best for the team just like anyone else.”

it seems that the chemistry of this team went over well in general; shots of each of the teammates helping each other out flash over the screen one after another. "hey, how do you think this line sounds? you can be completely honest,” jueun asks touma. 

“i suppose… seeing how this song is like, you could be a lot more firm? powerful?” touma suggests.

jueun takes the feedback well, nodding as she replies: “i get what you mean.” 

this team in particular seems to be preparing a lot for their performance. as the days roll by, they’re seen practicing with prop weapons, discussing comic book character makeup, choreographing a new dance break, and arranging the song to their liking. they’re certainly taking the customization of this challenge seriously.

“our concept is cool! we’re doing venom—like, the comic book character. it made sense with the title of the song,” touma explains to the cameras, clearly enthused about the concept. 

“our decision to get rid of the rap verses may have been a little bold since we were switching it up quite a bit,” jueun reveals in a separate shot.

pink venom without quartz’s iconic rap lines? excuse the editors for being a bit dubious, but that certainly is a bold move!

in practice, the team is just as dedicated to coming up with new ideas. "what if we all took turns coming to the center, so everyone their chance to be at the front?" jiayi suggests.

“yes! that’s a good idea, each one of us deserves the center spotlight.” touma approves.

it turns out that jueun herself was the artist behind the makeup on team a’s faces. a short shot of the team backstage shows her applying the venom-inspired face paint. with all of their team chemistry, surely they’ll be able to pull off a good performance, right?

there’s only one way to find out!

a rather eerie vibe overtakes the stage as the decked-out pink venom team waits for the music to begin. and begin it does, the team showing off unique choreography with prop weapons introduced to the song. and they’re right; removing the raps and moving the dance break up to replace them (with entirely new choreography), and adding another chorus where the break used to be certainly adds a new spin to the song. it’s unrecognizable from the original, but is that a good thing?

the camera is sure to capture each member’s ending fairy moment as the song comes to a close. however, that also means that its time for judgment to begin.

“i suppose we should start with touma,” jihun begins, taking the lead on the judges’ reviews again. “i suppose i should just be glad you listened to us to some extent. you worked on your vocal performance, sure, but it seems like it was a bit of an afterthought, wasn’t it?” he gives the young man a look, asking him to be honest with himself. “dance may be more fun, but let’s not neglect the hard work, alright?”

“improvement is improvement,” yuna admits, piggybacking off of what jihun already said. “but if what jihun suspects is true, and singing still took less of a priority for you this round, imagine how quickly you could improve if you made an effort to be as excited about singing as you are about dancing. just to keep in mind.” she smiles.

“enough on that,” ran waves the opinions of the other two off dismissively. “you were clearly passionate about this concept and it makes you a very engaging contestant to watch. i hope you’re able to keep this energy throughout future performances and have fun on every stage, regardless. good job, touma.”

ran turns her attention to jueun next. “ah, jueun… i wanted to root for you so badly after that strong opening line but i’m so sorry to say you didn’t keep that same energy through the whole performance. i feel like i lost you a bit in there, which was a shame. you’re a wonderful performer i want to see more from.”

“we can tell your skills are improving, at least,” yuna jumps in. “but i have to agree with ran… honestly, i think your team did you a bit dirty with this arrangement. they seemed to be playing to their own strengths more than yours. advocate for yourself next time! if they’re going to add a dance break, shouldn’t they have helped you shine by playing up your strengths as well?”

jihun considers his words carefully before he speaks, seemingly undecided on what verdict he wants to give. finally, he picks up his microphone. “i think this boils down to pink venom not being a very good concept on you,” he admits. “as yuna said, we can see you’re improving. this song did not highlight that for you, though. it’s a shame that your teammates didn’t notice that they weren’t doing you any favors. i hope they weren’t counting on your elimination should the other pink venom team perform better.”

he sends a sharp look around at the fellow contestants, perhaps a warning to work on their teamwork.

“renyi, i hope this was an oversight on your part and not an intentional contingency plan for teammates you preferred.” he remarks sharply, scolding the coach from his company more than the contestant who was most affected.

“can i gush over jiayi tough?” ran changes the conversation quickly, moving to the next contestant. “this concept suits you very well. your expressions were good and you looked confident throughout the whole song, which embodies quartz’s energy so well. the girl crush concept is truly meant for you.”

“we can also see your improvement very clearly,” yuna adds, “your vocals are getting better with every performance and it’s good to see you maintain your confidence when our critiques can easily make a contestant overthink and panic. we’re here to point out your flaws so you can improve upon them, and you’ve taken that very well.”

“if i had to describe it,” jihun once again pauses to choose his words carefully before continuing, “it’s like you truly embody the concept of quartz. if we were auditioning for another member, you’d certainly fit the bill. but we’re not.” of course he can’t simply give praise. it’s unclear whether he liked jiayi’s performance or not.

“as for the performance itself…” he sighs, leaning down to rest his head in his hand as he looks over the notes he’s written in front of him. “don’t you think it was a bit too much?”

a pause falls over the room as judges and contestants alike wait for the studio delta ceo to explain his thoughts.

“quartz has a girl crush, feminine power sort of image. i suppose by bringing in super heroes and weapons you wanted to emphasize that, but the arrangement was just… bad. the dance break, supposedly the climax of the song, happened in the first half of the performance and the rest felt like a letdown. taking away the raps may have shown your talents better, but it took away the power of the song. it just felt a bit… underwhelming.” he sighs. “at least you tried.”

“i’ll admit, jihun is the real producer among us,” ran smiles apologetically. “he’ll know the technicalities better than i would. but purely as an audience member, it felt like the intensity was here,” she holds her hand parallel to the table, about nose-hight. “and it stayed there throughout the performance. something that starts here,” she holds her hand lower and as she speaks, moves it upwards, “and then escalates as it goes, maybe dips a bit, but then finishes with a bang!” she raises her hand up above her head, “usually is more captivating.”

“i think you did well to play to your strengths,” yuna at least has compliments for the team, “but i see what jihun and ran are saying. if you’re not good rappers, this was a good time to learn. renyi, you could have stepped up to help too. even if your rapping wasn’t good, it’s not like you’d get kicked out for it like your contestants would. better strategizing and use of your coach might have improved this performance, if you had thought about it.”

“ah, i’m sure you wanted to hear more praise than that for all of your hard work,” jian smiles sympathetically at team a. “don’t worry! we haven’t seen team b yet; you could still win this!” she cheers them on once more before they’re dismissed from the stage for now, replaced by pink venom TEAM B.

perhaps one of the most interesting storylines on this team is that of JANG HYUNKI. after coming into the competition at one of the lowest ranks, he suddenly rose to the top and secured the male center spot after last episode! 

“after seeing my name at the bottom, i didn't dare consider the idea of jumping all the way to first place. i just wanted to show the judges i was much more than i showed in my audition,” he explains in the interview room. “clearly, i did something to please the judges.”

“do you think you can maintain that ranking?” a voice from beyond the camera asks him. 

"i hope so," hyunki laughs while he responds, perhaps giddy at the thought.

“i'm happy we all seem excited for the song," hyunki enthuses to his coach, PARK DOHYUN. 

“i'm a sucker for catchy girl group songs,” dohyun admits, “and i think we can bring the right energy with all the different strengths we have."

it does appear that the team is working well together. it’s hyunki again who approaches MOON JORDAN during a solo practice session, catching him while he’s taking a break. based on the sweat on his face and soaked into his shirt, jordan had only been resting for a very short moment. 

"hey, not looking half bad," hyunki compliments his teammate openly. 

“thank you, thank you. i’m just trying my best especially in moments like this,” jordan responds, immediately stopping his break and putting away his phone. this team is full of hard workers, it would seem. 

the pair begin practice quickly, discussing which parts they need the most work on and which they think they can leave for later.

“i can tell you now, there was definitely not one single bad moment working with the venom flower crew,” jordan tells the cameras in the interview room, absolutely gushing about his teammates. “although it’s different personalities jumbled into one team, we all worked so well together during this process.”

while hyunki and jordan clearly know their way around a practice room, there seems to be a different story from RYU SIWOO. “i’ve never danced or rapped in my life,” siwoo admits to hyunki. how in the world did he make it onto the show with such little experience? did luxury-brand boy buy his way into the spotlight?

despite his glaring inadequacies, siwoo still seems very positive about the whole experience. maybe it’s, again, because the team gets along so well. “i’m sure we’ll do well. from what i gather we have to have good… chemistry? to pull off the rapping. i think we’re already halfway there.”

after the camera flits between a few more miscellaneous practice scenes, it finally comes time for the team’s performance. 

"we wanted to play with the different connotations and ideas surrounding the words 'pink' and 'venom,'" hyunki explains, his voice overlaid as the camera pans across their dimly lit figures waiting for their stage to start. "i thought a lot about how pink brings up thoughts of softness, cuteness, and overall gentle things while venom is, obviously, totally opposite. it was fun to visually play with those ideas through our styling. we all also picked out a flower that is poisonous but still beautiful to wear.” the camera takes the opportunity to zoom in on hyunki’s foxglove charm, so small that it may have been missed if it hadn’t been pointed out.

finally, the music starts. just like with the first cake team, it’s apparent immediately that there’s been almost no alteration done to the arrangement or choreography of the song, simply dressing themselves up in themed costumes and performing the song relying on their own stage presence to make it unique.

the camera pans across the judges’ disgruntled faces yet again.

the only saving grace is the performance itself; the chemistry of the team is certainly there and even siwoo, who self-proclaimed his lack of experience, seems to embody the quartz vibe exceptionally well. 

as the performance comes to a close and the camera focuses on each contestant one by one, a threatening silence seems to brew from one judge in particular.

“i think i’ll start,” ran seems to recognize the storm brewing sooner than yuna, picking up her microphone before jihun can speak. “hyunki, our center,” she smiles, “you do shine on stage these days. i think after a rough start to the competition, you truly came to life and continue to shine. you show your expressions well.”

“agreed,” yuna jumps in, and expands upon the thought. “you’ve definitely become a more balanced performer from when we first saw you. i can’t say for certain that it’s enough to keep first place, but you’re certainly making a good case for it. great job.”

jihun has nothing to say just yet, simply nodding his agreement with the other coaches for now.

ran, feeling more uncomfortable as her fellow ceo continues to brew in his emotions calls on the next contestant. “you’re also showing steady improvement, jordan,” ran compliments him. “i noticed you’re also paying closer attention to your expressions this time. it’s improvement like that that we’re excited to see and makes us want to continue to watch your growth. please keep up the good work.”

“if nothing else, i think pink venom was the perfect song to help this whole team practice their stage presence,” yuna remarks. “it’s not terrible challenging vocally and leaves a lot of room for attitude. you gave us a good performance this time, jordan, and i hope to see this sort of consistency from you moving forward.”

again, jihun remains silent.

“i think siwoo embodied the concept best, though,” yuna continues uncomfortably, “and we can tell that you were working hard for this performance, maybe harder than you’ve worked before?” she suggests, her smile turning a bit coy.

“please don’t take this the wrong way, but you play the ‘rich girl’ character very well,” ran praises the young man herself. “the attitude is perfect for most of quartz’s discography. this was definitely your song.”

the judges look at jihun, almost afraid to comment on the group as a whole until he says something. but it seems that group feedback isn’t coming the same way it had for the other teams. “bring team a back out,” he instructs jian and the staff. “i think everyone needs to hear this.”

as the other team shuffles uncomfortably back on stage, jihun stands up at the desk, fingertips just resting on the tabletop. the slightest tremor in his hands betrays his fury before his lips open.

“renyi, dohyun,” he addresses the coaches, “i understand that your role was limited in this competition and you were at the mercy of the teams we gave you. but i’ve never been more humiliated by a studio delta team in my life.”

the ceo shoots a sharp glare across each and every contestant, making sure everyone knows that no one is spared from his disappointment and fury.

“this challenge was made for us. it was assigned by me. and yet i sit here and listen to both teams do very little to make this song their own. at least team a rearranged it a bit, it was a mess of a performance and showed very little creativity but at least it was different. showing up in different costumes is not a show of creativity. it’s a complete lack of it. i would have thought that the studio delta teams would have blown everyone out of the water, and yet i’m sitting here and a lime entertainment team is the most unique rendition we’ve seen so far. aren’t you a little bit embarrassed?”

he lets his words linger in the air for a moment, the entire studio silent as he breaks protocol and simply decides what happens next on his own. jihun sits back into his seat heavily, still clearly angry as he scribbles something on the paper in front of him. “we don’t need time to discuss this. i’m sure yuna and ran already agree. the winner of this battle is TEAM A, but only because we can’t have two losers. get off the stage. team b, stick around a moment so we can decide which of you we’re sending home.”

the judges enter discussion about who from the losing team should be removed, but again it’s kept hidden until later in the episode. it’s just as well, since even the audience may want to cut away from this tense scene as soon as possible.

the audience doesn’t see the short break that’s taken for jihun to cool down and the rest of the staff and judges to get themselves ready for the final performances. they cut immediately to jian’s smiling face as she’s flanked by DON’T CALL ME TEAM A and TEAM B.

“our final battle of episode three will be giving us their unique spin on a.maze’s don’t call me,” she proclaims, her smile as unshakable as ever. “i’ll admit, i snuck into their stage rehearsals and caught a glimpse of what they have to show. i’m glad these are the final performances, since this is truly the big finale,” she winks at the camera, and then gestures to the two teams around her. “any last words before we begin?”

after the teams great, goad, or congratulate their competition, jian waves team b off of the stage. “as always, we’re starting with TEAM A!” she announces. for a moment, the team is seen taking their places on stage, but the long practice sessions that lead them here always comes first.

"may i ask you a question?" RYU INHO takes a short break with the coach for his group, YEOM SARANG, in the middle of yet another grueling practice session. sarang offers a warm smile and inho takes that as a sign to ask away. "do you feel like you have to think a lot about your image and how you present yourself to others? or do you think it comes natural?"

sarang is quiet for a moment, thinking before he responds. "as performers, we're shapeshifters,” he begins to explain, “we have to be able to pull off so many different concepts, we have to embody various outfits and styles... we have to show the best sides of ourselves all of the time, and i do think that takes effort and mindfulness." the young man shrugs, perhaps dismissive, perhaps unsure of his own response. “it's a balancing act, really.”

"the judges mentioned to keep my image in mind and be careful of how i act,” inho admits, clearly taking their feedback to heart.

"we all want to present ourselves in the best light possible,” sarang continues to explain, perhaps shedding some light on what the judges truly meant. “and we don't want to let those who adore us down either. so long as your intentions are good, no one can really fault you."

"we all got along extremely well and had good chemistry from the start,” inho explains to the cameras in the interview room, “it allowed for us to come up with some cool concepts for the performance, and help each other be the best we could be."

the same room is suddenly occupied by HWANG JINGREN, also gushing about his camaraderie with his fellow teammates. “everyone in the team was so helpful,” he explains. “jaeyoung was particularly good with keeping a smile on my face, even after hours of practice.”

“you again! my lucky day,” jingren exclaims, poking SONG JAEYOUNG in the arm with his ecstatic greeting.

“your lucky day? you better share that luck of yours then. god knows we need it,” jaeyoung jokes back immediately, initiating more contact by linking their arms together. 

“need it? we can do this without luck,” jingren insists. the chemistry within the group clearly is strong right off the bat as the pair settles down to start brainstorming ideas for their rendition of don’t call me. 

“after doing our line distributions, i wanted to honor the parts i was given,” jingren appears in the interview room again after a moment. “i did not want to drag my group down in any way. my biggest challenge was keeping my voice steady during the parts with heavy dance…”

“hey!” sarang’s voice cuts the scene again, he and jingren in a practice room together. “you look like you’re thinking a little too hard about something. i can tell you already that, if you’re having any doubts about the performance or your vocals, there’s no point. you’re, like, so talented.”

“o-oh, now you’re giving me too much credit,” jingren tries to dismiss the compliment, “you’re really good at performing. i think there’s a lot that you could help me with.”

sarang, ever the hype man, doesn’t take the dismissal easily. “i mean it when i say that you’re incredible. i realize you’re maybe trying to be modest, and i love that about you, but sometimes, it’s okay to feel good about your skills, too; to celebrate them, in a way.” he hypes up his teammate, helping him build the confidence he needs to stand on stage.

the two continue to practice, but there are other members in the team who have yet to be seen. namely, PARK AHYOUNG. she finally makes an appearance with ryu inho, the two practicing the choreography together.

“yeah i’m not much of a dancer…but my little sister might bully me if i mess this up so that isn’t an option,” inho jokes, but is he really joking? 

“yeah, i don’t have any professional dance training at all,” ahyoung sympathizes with her teammate. but that’s not going to stop her. “so, i was looking up exercises to help increase stamina and jumping jacks are supposed to be good. i’m really good at jumping jacks. wanna see if you can do more jumping jacks than me?”

ahyoung insists on going first, a sped-up version of her jumping jack set played on screen. “okay, that was 50,” she says as the fast-forward replay comes to an end, suspiciously short. “i’m just kidding, it was 17,” she admits, out of breath after only a few short minutes of exercising.

this team acts more like a family than a group of strangers, apparently bonding with each other incredibly quickly.

“they’re all creative people, we mesh well. thank god,” jaeyoung tells the cameras again how wonderful this team has been together, “it’d be hard to be in a team with people you just don’t… click with, you know? but we did.”

“and we came up with an ambitious concept for our performance.”

“can you explain your concept?” a voice from behind the camera asks him.

“retro vibes, think saloons but also cyberpunk. like mad max, if you know the movie,” jaeyoung tries to explain. “i think our storyline is sick too, honestly. a bittersweet fight, just like the song almost.”

the scene fades into the group standing on stage, ready to begin their performance. the music begins, unfamiliar to those who have heart a.maze’s original rendition of the song. the remix that team a is using is harsher, grungier, and with the combination of their stage outfits the mad max vibes come across clearly.

it’s hard not to notice the chemistry between the team members themselves. they don’t shy away from one another, making eye contact amongst each other and playing off of their energy and emotions. if this was purely a concept battle, they would have won for certain, as expected of a team represented by an sr media delegate.

the song comes to a close and a short round of applause is heard from the judges and jian, who stands in the wings while the groups are performing.

“finally,” jihun sighs, “something worth watching.”

“we do have to give our feedback, though,” ran smiles, “but i think we all agree you all put on a wonderful performance. but, i have to point out, jingren,” her smile becomes a bit strained, “you didn’t look like you were having fun with that performance. is everything alright?” the scene flashes back of a clear frown on jingren’s face that was caught not just by ran, but by the cameras as well. “please don’t forget to mind your expressions on stage. even if you make a mistake, you can sometimes cover it up with confidence alone.”

“but you did make a mistake,” yuna points out. “your voice wasn’t terribly stable, unfortunately. and ran is right, if you had acted more confident i may not have noticed, or might have been able to let it slide. but by scowling like that, you admit to your audience that you’re not happy with your own performance. how can you expect the audience to be happy with it then too?”

“you’re improving, but you still need to work on your stamina,” jihun’s frown somewhat mirrors the one that jingren had been wearing on stage, funnily enough. his critique is short but maybe that’s a good thing.

“ahyoung,” jihun seems ready to call her out immediately again, “it seems like you can take things a bit more seriously when there's other people's dreams on the line.” he fixes the young woman with a stern look, though perhaps it’s an admission that she did improve at least the slightest bit. “at least you didn’t completely let your team down.”

“admittedly, i feel like this concept didn’t suit you as well as it suited the others,” ran smiles sympathetically. sometimes it’s not the participants’ fault; there’s always going to be someone who falls somewhat behind in any category. “your performance has improved, but perhaps you lacked the maturity to properly convey the emotions in this song. i appreciate your efforts regardless.”

yuna also smiles this time. “your rap is getting better,” she praises her, “but this isn’t exactly a song by a group well-known for their rapping. you could still work on your stability and stamina more. you sounded a little out of breath… aren’t you one of the youngest contestants here? you should be full of energy.” yuna teases gently.

“i could tell you felt better about this performance, inho,” ran smiles endearingly. “i loved the expressions you were showing us, very snarky and confident. it matched the concept well, i think this suited you fine.” 

“you danced and sang well, but more importantly you seemed to have confidence in yourself,” yuna praises him as well. “you’ve been a joy to watch improve so far. if anything, i’d say that you want to try to keep this same energy regardless of your personal feelings about the song. i’ll be the first to admit that i didn’t love every song in my own discography, but i had to perform with a smile anyway. i hope you’re able to keep this in mind for future performances you may not enjoy as much as this one.”

“all we can ask is that you listen to our feedback and apply it to your practice and performance,” jihun speaks. “you’ve done that.” it’s close enough to a compliment from him.

“jaeyoung, you’ve also taken our criticism to heart,” jihun gives a similar appraisal of the final contestant on this team. “teamwork is also a skill. it’s good to see you finally learn some of that.”

“were you on fire?” ran grins, “i feel like we could feel the heat radiating off of you. the expressions! in this case, your intensity was perfect for the concept you chose for this song. the chemistry of this team really shines, actually. you all made each other better by working together.”

yuna smiles as well. “i think i’m a little jealous,” she remarks, “i’ve never had a team to perform with, but your group made it look like so much fun. i should talk to my ceo, maybe it’s not too late to build a new team…” she laughs, clearly not serious about the idea, though the compliment is genuine.

“i do think you could have pushed the boundaries a bit farther,” jihun frowns ever so slightly, though that seems to be his default expression. “this was more or less just a remix with a new concept thrown on top, it didn’t completely reinvent a.maze’s song. but based on what else we’ve seen today, it was certainly better than others.” he doesn’t seem to be over the disappointment that was the studio delta teams just yet.

“well i enjoyed it,” ran asserts, though of course she would appreciate the more theatrical approach. “as yuna said, your chemistry really sold the show. i think you had the best synergy of any group we’ve seen perform today. but i’ll admit, i did think of a.maze the entire time. maybe it’s because they’re my group, but i couldn’t help but be reminded of their own close teamwork. you embodied the song well, but i have to admit you didn’t completely reinvent it.”

“regardless, great job,” ran concludes, giving the team another round of applause as they leave the stage, only to be replaced by TEAM B.

the scene shifts, as it had several times before, to the practice rooms. this time, the cameras waste no time in capturing the moments when team b is planning their performance, from concept to choreography.

“putting a performance together took a lot more effort than it seems on the surface,” it’s RYEO JIHYUN who is the first to appear in the interview room for this group. “so i’m grateful that we were all supportive of one another, things processed quite smoothly too.”

the scene shifts slightly, now only PARK STEVEN and CHOI HANGYEOL monopolizing the practice room. steven mimics a flowing dance movement that hangyeol demonstrates first, and then adds on to it. “okay,” he muses aloud, “i think after that, it’d look nice with like- a twisty? turkey kinda thing…” he demonstrates with his body what his lips can’t seem to describe.

“oh!” hangyeol recognizes the movement immediately, “it’s called an illusion- where did you learn to do that out of nowhere?”

“i’ve been researching,” stevie explains, seemingly embarrassed by his own admission, “i was watching some videos this week to kinda help give me an idea of what i’m doing.”

the duo keep choreographing together, hangyeol making the next suggestion. “it might be nice as a quick roll-off too. ooh- what if we did something a little spicy coming out of it? maybe one of those reverse scorpions, since we’re already so close to the floor? here-” he demonstrates the movement. stevie approves.

jihyun’s voice plays over a few more moments of practice before the scene shifts to him sitting in the interview room again. “it’s a song that tells a story about the singer who gets betrayed by their loved one who’s trying to move on from their toxic ex that’s still obsessed with them. we added a contemporary twist to it, so the way we sang and dance is a little softer than the original, we wanted to convey the bitter emotions felt in a song,” as luciel explains, the graceful yet tortured movements of the dancers hard at work seem to make much more sense. “we’re puppets controlled by the puppet master, that’s why there’s strings that gets cut off eventually, to show that we can get out of that toxicity.”

JIHYUN is seen in the practice rooms next, he and LEE NAYOUNG replacing the two young men from the previous scene. the coach has only just walked into the room, jihyun’s singing suddenly paused by the entrance of another person.

“is everything okay?” nayoung asks her teammate.

“it’s been alright so far but… i’m struggling to feel the mood of the song even though on paper, i understand the concept.” jihyun doesn’t look quite defeated, but he’s certainly perturbed by his struggles with the song.

“when in doubt, fake it,” nayoung advises, “even if you’re never experienced a toxic relationship, you can think about how it would feel, and try to reflect that in how you perform. i think if you tap into some kind of desperation, and frustration, you’ll embody the concept and it’ll come across well.”

it seems that nayoung’s advice to get used to acting filters throughout the group, jihyun now partnering with steven to work on their performance. “could you try singing while making eye contact with me?” jihyun suggests to the other man, holding a hand out as an offering gesture. steven takes it, and jihyun starts quoting the lyrics softly, speaking them instead of singing, “tell me that if i love you, i have to let you go.”

steven matches jihyun’s gaze, but only for a moment before his face turns bright red and he’s pulling away to cover his embarrassment with his hands. “wait, i’m shy,” he sputters. obviously, jihyun has learned well from nayoung if he’s able to fluster his male teammate so easily! 

while the team gets along well, there’s clearly a business-like focus shared between them. compared to team a in particular, the chemistry of team b is strong in the sense of a well-organized group project rather than the family-like feeling of their competitors. just how will that play out on stage?

there’s not much longer to wait!

however, before getting to the actual performance, one more scene pops onto the screen. it’s dress rehearsal just earlier that day and the entire team is running through the unique dance break, the full choreography yet to be revealed. during a scorpion move, HANGYEOL suddenly shouts in pain.

“i’m okay,” he insists, though the music stops immediately and staff immediately flock towards him to see what’s the matter. “it’s just an old injury. i have a brace for it backstage. nobody panic.”

how could they not panic, though?

nayoung approaches him, his wrist a scary-looking combination of tape and the brace, likely much worse than it looks, even if it is quite bad despite hangyeol insisting, again, “i’m fine.”

“you’re not fine,” nayoung disagrees, “we need to-”

“-change the choreo. i know.” hangyeol is fully aware of the hiccup that is his last-minute injury. he tests the limits of his wrist, thinking about just how they’re going to pull this off. “i’ll adjust to something that makes sense, so they don’t have to change anything.” he assures nayoung.

whether she’s convinced or not, there’s no time to do anything but simply trust him. “ok. i’ll let them know.”

a few worried conversations later and the entire team lines up on stage, hangyeol’s wrist still fully wrapped. will he push through the pain and injure himself more? will he really come up with something on the fly that still suits the choreography without distracting the others?

that lingering question haunts the entire performance, adding another layer to their haunted, contemporary retelling of don’t call me. as the dance break comes closer and closer and no sign of hangyeol suddenly cured of his ailment, just what will happen?

perhaps the best made plans cannot substitute for happy accidents. while the other young men lean forward into the scorpion pose, hangyeol pirouettes in place instead, spinning once, twice, three times while the others dance with un-injured wrists. at the climax, hangyeol grabs at his neck and falls to his knees, ripping his necklace off like the final chain broken between him and the toxic relationship still trying to sink its claws into him. he stares directly into the camera, directly at the viewer behind the screen, and drops the choker off the edge of the stage as if taunting the viewer with his newfound freedom.

a cheer goes up from the female judges as the team finishes their performance, the cameras catching each in their ending fairy poses before finally leaving time for the judges’ critiques.

“i’m glad this performance was last!” yuna exclaims, “it definitely felt like the grand finale of this episode! congratulations to all of you for successfully pulling it off.” she pauses to clap a few more times, giving the team their well-deserved applause.

“ah, but hangyeol,” yuna’s brow knits together in concern, “how’s your wrist? we heard what happened during rehearsal, are you alright?” she waits for his response, her frown sympathetic. “injuries happen. but being able to work through them, or despite them, makes you a stronger performer. i’m thoroughly impressed with your ability to think quickly and to make sure your team didn’t suffer for the accident. if we didn’t know better, your adjustments to the choreography really looked intentional.”

“and your expressions!” ran exclaims, also taken with the performance and perhaps with hangyeol himself in particular. “the whole team did well, but i felt like you connected with the song in particular. something in your face moved my heart… i think if jihun wasn’t such a grump, he would admit it moved his too.” she smiles and elbows the judge next to her.

jihun rolls his eyes, though he doesn’t look nearly as annoyed as he has before. “we normally scold contestants for injuring themselves,” he remarks, “and for this reason entirely. you can’t perform your best if you’re not feeling your best, and we don’t want to make an investment in someone who doesn’t know their limits and will tear themselves apart before they can even make it to debut. you are the exception in this case. you’re wise enough to know when to back off and how to make a performance work despite injury. your previous experience on stage must have done you well.”

“jihyun’s expressions were also surprisingly good, for someone who was faking it,” jihun quirks a brow as he looks on to the next contestant. “it’s good to see you take nayoung’s advice and apply it to your practice and performance. it shows good character and an ability to learn. i would just suggest that you remember to put that emotion into your voice as well as your face. you’re a good singer, but this song isn’t about good singers.”

“i do think it’s important to show off your abilities, though,” yuna disagrees gently, or perhaps just refines the critique that jihun has already given. “you have a good voice, jihyun. it’s pleasant to listen to… but you’re allowed to make us feel unpleasant at times if the song calls for it. but at this stage in your career, i understand why you didn’t. it’s a fine detail thing that will come with time.” she smiles encouragingly.

“you made this one particular expression during the performance that was especially good,” ran remarks, trying to mimic it on her own face. the screen replays jihyun’s conceited smirk as he bitterly sings about how awful his ex was. “i don’t know if many people would have thought to smile there, maybe they would have cried instead. it was a really captivating choice. maybe you have a future in acting as well,” her smile seems to be filled with unspoken plans and ideas.

“and steven,” jihun is the first to give the young man a stern look. though, perhaps he only does it now because he finds it entertaining that the contestant is a little bit afraid of him. “you’ve grown a lot since last season. i know we keep saying it, but it showed in this mission in particular. using your own free time to research for your performance was a very smart and mature move and you helped your team a lot by staying focused on the concept and goal.” 

“if i recall, this was the episode you were eliminated on last season, correct?” yuna brings up the past, her smile a bit sly as she once again drudges up memories steven probably would rather leave behind him. “i don’t think we’ve had to scold you once so far, have we? at least not so badly that i remember it. you’re a strong dancer and it’s refreshing to see you take the craft more seriously. you could work on your vocals more, but a.maze are notoriously difficult to keep up with. you did well for your first attempt at covering this song.”

finally, it’s ran’s turn. “stevie park, you keep making us eat our words from last season and i couldn’t be happier about it,” she smiles warmly. “i think what stands out most this time is how you’re able to bring brightness and joy to your team without distracting them this time. it can be difficult to keep morale up during long days of practice but staying motivated while remaining focused goes a long way in delivering a strong performance. keep it up.”

“as for your performance overall, i think yuna said it best when she said this was the perfect grand finale of the episode,” ran continues. “you not only changed the song right down to its very tempo, choreographed your own dance in a place that made sense, and introduced a concept that enhanced the lyrics, you did it all while singing and dancing at a near professional level. i’m genuinely impressed,” she claps her hands together, a short applause to cheer on the team that had given them such a great performance.

“i thought it couldn’t get much better than team a,” yuna admits, “but you gave us everything they did and more. ah, i wish we could keep this team together for the next round. you worked well together, very professionally, and it served you well in delivering a phenomenal performance. you tugged on all of our heartstrings. great job.”

jihun sighs, folds his arms, and leans back in his seat. “why did you have to be a sr media team?” he groans. “ran isn’t going to let me hear the end of this. i don’t even have much to critique. you used your coach’s expertise strategically, so congrats to nayoung for leading your team so well. i hate to say it. you made the song your own, which was exactly what we asked you to do.”

he also gives a begrudging round of applause with his fellow judges as team a rejoins jian and team b on stage.

“after deliberation, our judges have revealed the winner of this battle,” jian reads from her cue card, glancing at the judges with a smile before looking down at the winner’s name again, eyes wide. “the winner of don’t call me is… TEAM B!”

after a moment of cheering and celebrating, jihun picks up his microphone again. “you both did well,” he explains, “but someone had to be the loser. team b better embodied the challenge and made the song more uniquely their own, beyond just remixing the track and wearing different costumes. at last, we can only have one winner.”

“unfortunately,” jian announces, “it’s time to say goodbye to some of our teammates and friends. if the losing teams could all join me on stage,” she gestured to the wings where the losing teams from cake and pink venom join her on stage as don’t call me team b exits for now.

“KAITO, JAEYOUNG, and SIWOO.. please step forward,” jian announces. “according to our judges you are… safe!” she smiles as the contestants all breathe a sigh of relief, the prank surely making their heartbeats increase a few notches.

“the next three names will be the eliminated contestants for this episode,” jian confirms, no pranks left before the announcement. “from CAKE TEAM A… we’re saying goodbye to YOON EUNWOL.”

a somber feeling fills the room as the contestants say their goodbyes to the eliminated participant. before he can leave the stage, however, yuna speaks up one last time. “eunwol, you have talent, but you lack the maturity to show it properly. while we’re eliminating you today, we’re doing so in hopes of teaching you a lesson and that this will only help you in your performing career. you need to be able to stand strong on your own and push forward without complaint. please believe me when i say that we hope to see you again soon.”

after another moment of farewell greetings, eunwol is escorted off the stage.

“next, from PINK VENOM TEAM B… MOON JORDAN.”

more tears, hugs, and goodbyes are shared as jordan processes his elimination from the competition. perhaps this one was more of a shock.

“jordan,” jihun addresses him this time, “unfortunately, someone from your team had to go. it wasn’t an easy decision as we felt that you all performed fairly evenly, but unfortunately you drew the short straw in this specific circumstance. i hope this doesn’t discourage you too much and you’re able to continue to pursue your performing dreams outside of this show.”

like eunwol, jordan is also given his final hugs and handshakes before he’s escorted away.

“our final elimination tonight is from DON’T CALL ME TEAM A,” jian announces. she sighs as she reads the name silently before finally revealing it aloud. “tonight we’re sorry to say good bye to… PARK AHYOUNG.”

the team that had formed such a close bond so quickly undoubtedly sheds more than a few tears as they say good bye to their eliminated member.

“your heart was never in this, was it, ahyoung?” ran smiles sympathetically from her place behind the judges’ table. “but you still delivered us a good performance. we were glad to see what you had to offer, but i hope you’re happier pursuing music, or whatever else you’d like to do, outside of next gen. maybe our paths will cross again someday.”

as the final contestant is ushered away, the survivors and winners are gathered on stage. one by one, the updated ranking is introduced to them, time given to react while the scores pop up one at a time.

most notably, CHOI HANGYEOL has reclaimed his seat at the top, achieving the number one position for the second time this season. “congratulations!” jian praises him. “i don’t recall anyone earning the honor more than once last year. it’s a huge testament to your achievement!”

“next week will be another elimination round,” jian reminds the contestants in the bottom ranks, most notably SEIRA, JUEUN, and JIHYUN. “you still have time to raise your ranking to remain safe after the next evaluation.”

“speaking of, forget your old teams, because you’re all being rearranged into three new teams,” jian lets the contestants know. “our next mission is the CONCEPT EVALUATION!”

“our judges have been watching you over the last few weeks and have placed you into the concepts that they feel you’ll perform best. of the many diverse concepts that have appeared in kpop, and even just in sr media groups, we’ve divided it up into three main categories: cute and bright, elegant and sexy, and teen crush.”

“in the next episode, you’ll be performing the concepts in the songs chosen for you by the judges to the best of your ability. the winning team will be safe from elimination while the losing two teams risk members being sent home at the end of the episode.”

“your new teams and songs are on the screen above. take a moment to greet your new groupmates and get ready! we’re excited to see what you’ll show us on the next episode of next gen!”

what are your thoughts about your ranking from the previous episode?

“oh gosh.” 𝐉𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐍 let out a deep sigh only to let out a slight chuckle. “sometimes you just have to laugh to keep from crying.” he jokingly responded while throwing his hands up to his defense. “i was surprised.. but i didn’t want it to get to me to the point of becoming a quitter. it all just mean’t that i needed to do better, try a little harder.”

how did you feel about working with the teammates? give us the good and the bad.

“i can tell you now, there was definitely not one single bad moment working with the venom flower crew.” a small laughter escaped from his duo at the flower reference. the name he referred to had came from the genius idea of his team choosing flowers to represent them. “i can’t say this enough, but i am really so grateful to of worked with them. although it’s different personalities jumbled into one team, we all worked so well together during this process. i hope our bond can continue from then on.”

was there another participant who was especially helpful?

“all of my teammates were all so helpful. after seeing how things happened for me from the previous episode, they made sure to remind me to keep my head up at all times. overall, i think we were all very helpful to one another. this episode seemed to of been a bit more nerve-wrecking than others, so our chemistry together really hit it off for the best even though we hadn’t known eachother for long.”

how do you feel after performing? do you see your ranking increasing or staying the same?

before meeting up with his team, 𝐉𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐍 had done a prayer. majority of the time, he would do mental prayers to himself. but this time around? a verbal one was very much needed.

the last episode may of resulted in one of his worst fears happening. but, 𝐉𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐍 still had hopes that things would turn out okay as long as he kept his confidence at an all time high.

moments later, the male was now standing with the members of his team. he was more than nervous, but had a incredible way of hiding it so that it wasn’t as noticeable. he also had his teammates to thank for not being his usual nervous self. even though all of them had their own personalities, 𝐉𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐍 was still grateful to be around such talented, kind-hearted and humble individuals. for people that he just got to know, it seemed as if he knew them forever based on how well they’ve worked with one another.

once his team was finally called, 𝐉𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐍 inhaled then exhaled deeply while following his team and taking his position. he made sure to pull his flower chain from out of his shirt which was a significance for the performance. the group decided to each choose a flower that best suits them; and 𝐉𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐍 proudly chosen the lily of the valley to represent him. the chain made a great pairing with the angel wings necklace he also had on — gifted to him by his cousin whom also shares the same necklace. both accessories were his good luck charms as he needed all the luck in the world for today.

once ‘ 𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐎𝐌’ began to blast through the speakers, 𝐉𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐍 kept reminding himself to have fun with the performance; just like he practiced with his members. his facial expressions matched every movement the ground could feel from his feet, to every lyric that came from out his mouth. each time his parts especially came on, he continued making sure to keep it natural, fun and to stay in sync with the rest of group. all of which he believed he could check off as the list of things that went well on his list.

maybe the makeup on his face, the grungy costume to help sell their villain-eque concept, and the professional lights and cameras are still a bit new and overwhelming to him, but at least the weight of the guitar in his hands is familiar. he wraps his fingers around the neck, both muting the strings in case of any accidental sounds before he's supposed to begin and for his own comfort, like a child grabbing onto a toy. he glances at yuwol, seira, and chaerin and can't help but wonder if they're as nervous as he is. he hopes not; he feels awful.

the lights dim and yejun knows to be ready. they have some control over the start of their own song, after all; they're playing their own instrumental intro before leaving the instruments behind to get into the typical idol stuff, singing and dancing. he takes one last deep breath while he still has the chance, trying to shake off as many nerves as possible. yejun looks to his teammates and waits for their cue to start.

he hasn't played guitar on stage very many times, but it comes just as easily as hiding behind the drum set at the back of the stage had back when he performed with eat schmidt, dead calm, and then that's classified. there's something about an instrument in his hands, something he's confident in and has full control of, that makes him feel a little better. he's glad that they decided to do this first. by the time they're discarding their instruments and taking over the center of the stage, yejun has a moment to collect his bearings and decide that he does have the confidence to do this.

the good thing about all of this practice is that he already feels his endurance getting better from week to week, his voice a little easier and less breathless even during the harder parts of the dance. he feels stronger, more confident. yejun even feels good about the intricate hand movements that had made him doubt himself earlier in practice. chaerin is a good teacher.

i wonder if they're watching, he finds the red light of a camera, not quite realizing he's smiling into the lens until after it moves away from him. would they feel like he's mocking them, that he's rubbing his 'bad decision' in their faces? yejun hopes not; he hopes there's something left of his family he can return to once this is all over. but he can't stop to worry about them, his drummer's sense of rhythm keeping his body on beat, his voice singing his to heart's content.

as they strike the final pose, yejun can't help the smile across his face. no, this is exactly where he needs to be. this is what he was born for, what he was always meant to do. even if he's still making mistakes, if he still has a lot to learn, he'll do what he can to make it.