The global voting for the first battle took place over three days. The results came out today. The members, gathered in a circle in the conference room where cameras were rolling, played the video containing the voting results.
[We will now announce the global voting results.]
In the video, Seo Yungyeom, whom they had seen in the studio, stood in front of the screen giving his comments.
[We will announce starting from 5th place.]
[5th place!]
[D.N.X with 492,228 votes]
5th place was announced first. The members reacted with surprise.
“Their performance was really good though. That’s unexpected?”
“Right, I thought they’d be ranked higher. Now I really have no idea about the other rankings.”
Doha, who was just hoping they wouldn’t come in last place, was also disappointed they didn’t make 5th. But Sehyun didn’t seem interested in something like 5th place at all.
[Next, we will announce 4th place. 4th place received 540,812 votes.]
[4th place is…… Crash!]
With his damned inability to judge which team did well or poorly, he couldn’t gauge anything at all, so whatever name came up, he just accepted it as it was.
[Next is 3rd place.]
3rd place was announced immediately. It was Blaze, who had placed 6th in the first impression voting. Watching them jump from 6th to 3rd place, even though they weren’t on the same team, he felt strangely proud.
“Their performance was good.”
Eden nodded and said.
“I thought we’d come up this time.”
“Are we going to end up in 1st place at this rate?”
Haram grabbed Yunbeom’s arm next to him with anxious eyes. Then Yunbeom said in a confident voice.
“There’s still 6th place left……”
Haram’s appearance anxiously biting his lips was cute. The remaining teams were AVN, Deep Signal, and OnX. Among these, there were 1st, 2nd, and 6th place.
Doha carefully recalled the other teams’ performances he had seen on set. AVN was a group overflowing with energy. They seemed to have flown around the stage performing complete acrobatics. In comparison, Deep Signal’s song focused on vocal ability rather than performance.
A stage that was visually pleasing and a stage that was aurally pleasing. And OnX somewhere in between.
‘But we were pretty good, weren’t we?’
Even setting aside that it was his own team, he objectively thought the performance had been good. It seemed like this ranking would give them a hint about what people who vote focus on when evaluating.
[We will announce 6th place.]
When the words “6th place” came out, his heart started racing. They couldn’t be in last place. Even if he was looking at it from the perspective of a bystander taking a step back, after all that grueling work, he didn’t want to come in last. Though he was approaching this with insignificant skills, it wasn’t that he lacked competitive spirit. For today at least, he had decided to abandon his conscience.
[6th place is Deep Signal with 448,366 votes.]
With the announcement of 6th place, everyone let out a sigh of relief without exception. Forgetting that the cameras were rolling, they clutched their chests.
“Wow, I was totally nervous.”
Even Yunbeom, who had shown the most confidence, seemed to have actually been anxious inside.
Doha let out a breath of relief and looked at Sehyun sitting across from him. He thought that by watching his reaction, he might be able to tell whether they were in 1st place or not.
But Sehyun maintained a terrible poker face. Though he was staring intently at the screen, there was no particular strong reaction.
“Wow, I’d have nothing more to wish for even with 2nd place.”
Eden asked the members if they weren’t relieved.
“Me too.”
Haram nodded in agreement. The tension had eased a bit already. It must be the relief of avoiding last place.
“Now that it’s come to this, I’m getting greedy for 1st place?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Please announce it quickly, quickly.”
“Ah, I’m so nervous?”
The members’ bodies were fidgeting. The additional points given to 1st place flickered before their eyes.
[Then, we will announce the long-awaited 1st place.]
Finally, it was the moment to announce 1st place. The members’ bodies leaned toward the screen. Doha unknowingly tapped his fingers on the desk, anxiously waiting for the announcement.
[1st place with 720,421 votes is……]
[It’s……!]
The name of the 1st place team appeared large on the screen.
“Wow……”
* * *
- Did you anticipate the results?
“I didn’t anticipate it.”
Sehyun answered the interviewer’s question with a smile.
OnX placed 2nd with 681,558 votes. It was only a 50,000 vote difference from 1st place AVN.
Even 2nd place was an incredible achievement, and the members were satisfied and encouraged each other. However, the atmosphere was strange until the interview started, with relief and regret crossing.
The interview proceeded with the members sitting side by side facing forward. The corners of Doha’s mouth, seated in the very center, subtly twitched upward. Though it was 2nd place, it felt amazing that their hardships were proven by results.
“We got 2nd place. It’s all thanks to Hollys.”
“Holly, thank you!”
Eden and Haram conveyed their gratitude to the fans.
“Next time, we’ll work even harder and repay you with 1st place.”
Sehyun added a comment.
- Is 1st place possible in the next competition?
When the question was asked, Sehyun passed the microphone to Doha. Suddenly receiving the microphone, Doha was bewildered.
‘What, you want me to answer?’
Sehyun urged him with his eyes, gesturing at the microphone. He only acts like a leader at times like this. Only putting me forward when it’s difficult! After doing all the fun stuff themselves!
“Hmm, I don’t know how it’ll turn out, but we’ll have to work hard.”
Hearing Doha’s pessimistic response, Sehyun poked Doha’s side where the camera couldn’t catch it. It was silent pressure that this wasn’t the answer he wanted. So Doha opened his mouth again.
“Well, with these results, hmm, …… the members’ confidence has increased a lot, and our competitive spirit has been stimulated, so we’ll work very hard to receive better scores next time.”
As Doha’s words ended, Sehyun suddenly thrust his face in front of the microphone.
“We’ll definitely do it! 1st place!”
The members burst into laughter at Sehyun’s cute ambition. Normally, watching Sehyun’s baseless audacity, he would have shaken his head, but today’s Doha was different.
Because he had no choice but to acknowledge Sehyun’s tenacity and ability in somehow fitting himself, who had no basics, as a member of the 2nd place performance. Amazing, truly amazing.
Doha looked around searching for the next person to speak, and Yunbeom naturally extended his hand. The microphone was passed.
“We’ll take these results as motivation and work even harder!”
“We’ll work hard!”
After Yunbeom’s greeting, Eden waved both hands and winked at the fans. Haram also gave a deep bow. Sehyun made a finger heart and waved it, then soon pulled up Doha’s hand to make a heart. Caught off guard, he also ended up waving a finger heart.
“Please look forward to OnX’s next performance!”
Things got chaotic for a moment, but anyway, the interview wrapped up in a warm atmosphere.
* * *
After the program staff who finished the interview left, the OnX members and company employees gathered in the conference room.
This was because the episode 1 monitoring, analysis, and next performance meeting remained. Doha looked at Yungyeom’s face still displayed on the screen and opened his mouth.
“But that person, is he famous?”
“Ah. You don’t remember?”
“Who would remember?”
“Hmm, still, most people in South Korea know that face, so it would be hard to forget.”
Sehyun answered.
Is he that famous?
“Well, he’s a popular idol with 15 years of experience. Now he’s active as a solo artist, and he’s famous as an actor too.”
“15 years? Then how old is he?”
“He debuted really early, so he’s still twenty-nine.”
Did he debut as a newborn baby? Even for late twenties, he looked incredibly youthful. He thought he’d be mid-twenties at most.
“Why?”
“It’s nothing.”
Suddenly, he remembered the brief moment when he had cheered for them when they went on stage. Does he have a kind and caring personality? Next time he sees him, he thought he should treat him to a beverage or something.
“Everyone, congratulations on 2nd place! At this rate, aren’t we really going to win?”
“We didn’t even get 1st place, so why is the CEO the only one in a festive mood?”
With a hearty laugh, the CEO appeared and offered congratulations. But Sehyun’s reaction was cold. Being an incarnation of desire, Sehyun apparently wasn’t satisfied with 2nd place.
“2nd place is impressive among all those formidable teams.”
“Is there anyone who competes to get 2nd place? We have to get 1st! 1st!”
“Geez, why is this kid so uptight? Everyone did well. Just let this picky maknae’s words go in one ear and out the other.”
The CEO lightly ignored Lim Sehyun, who had become a 1st-place parrot, and encouraged the members.
“Let’s have the strategy meeting quickly.”
“Things are going well, so why do we need a strategy meeting……”
“CEO-nim. Do you not want OnX to get 1st place?”
“No, who said I don’t? It’s troublesome if you slander people like that? I’ve already had a banner made for OnX’s victory.”
At the CEO’s words, Sehyun narrowed his eyes and glared at him.
Doha was sufficiently satisfied with 2nd place and was basking in the pride, but seeing Sehyun’s reaction, it seemed their treatment wouldn’t change going forward.
They’re going to work us to death again…… Because, well, the competition continues. Still, for today at least, he should enjoy 2nd place in a good mood.
“We won’t have enough time to practice, so let’s finish the meeting quickly.”
As the CEO and staff took their seats, the meeting began.
