The stage is set, and a hush falls over the audience as the first team, 'Sweet as Sugar,' stepped into the spotlight. Akira, their leader, took center stage, a soft smile on his face.
The crowd cheered loudly when Akira was shown on screen. During the first part of the competition, Akira was the least famous trainee from RAVEN.
However, as time progressed, Akira quickly rose to fame, and that was evident in the loud cheers he gathered from the crowd.
"He has improved so much," Jihyun said. "I'm glad he rediscovered his confidence."
"It's like I'm watching the past Akira on stage," Hyerin said. "He looks very happy."
As he began to sing, his voice was as sweet as the title suggests. The melody is lovely, and the atmosphere in the studio instantly became romantic.
As the song progressed, the team's choreography was impeccable. They moved in perfect harmony, executing each dance move with precision. The audience can't help but be impressed by their synchronized performance, and cheers of support were heard in the crowd.
However, as the love song unfolded, there were moments that elicited cringes from the audience. Some of the trainees, while talented, struggled to convey the genuine emotions required for such an intimate performance. Their attempts at portraying romantic chemistry occasionally came off as awkward, drawing nervous chuckles from the spectators.
"That guy looks cheesy as hell."
"I have to give it to him, though. I'll be cringing HARD if that was me."
However, despite these cringy moments, Team Sweet as Sugar finished their performance on a strong note, with Akira delivering a cute ending.
The audience and mentors clapped as their performance finished.
For the first time in the show, the judges were going to publicly critique the performances.
"It was really good," Kiera said. "It was better than I had expected, and I'm happy that you took my advice well. If you were given more time, then it would have been a better performance."
"It was a concept made for Akira," Gun said. "You really brought something to the table this time."
"I agree," Jihyun said. "He stood out the most among all the trainees—which can both be a good and bad thing. Some trainees didn't embody the song, so it felt pretty forced on some of the parts. Nonetheless, it was still a good performance."
"I cringed," Sun-Y said, always wanting to criticize something.
With both joy and disappointment in their hearts, the team made their way down the stage.
The performances continued, showcasing the different genres and talents of the trainees.
'Brown Sugar Milktea' and 'Break My Heart' undoubtedly had the best responses so far, and they quickly became the front runners for the 200,000 star benefit.
Now, it was time for the next team to perform—Team Lightning performing 'Thunder.'
Jangmoon, who had gotten more comfortable with the stage, entered with steady breathing. Beside him was Xin, the overly confident trainee who bagged the Main Vocalist position despite being a new member.
Jangmoon was supposed to become the Main Vocalist after their teammate was eliminated. However, with Xin's reasoning as a new member, he snatched it out of Jangmoon's grasp.
In this group, Xin had the highest rank, so their cheers were quieter than the team before.
Their performance started with the strum of a guitar. 'Thunder' is an acoustic love song that talks about a girl who came as thunder in one's life.
Jangmoon, being the Sub-Vocalist 1, took a deep breath, determined to prove himself as he started the song.
The gentle strumming of an acoustic guitar accompanied by a soft percussion set the mood as he began to sing.
C-Jay raised his eyebrows in surprise when he heard his friend sing.
When did this tree-like person improve so much?
There was some depth and emotion in his singing despite his lack of technical ability, and his improvement surprised many, even the mentors.
There wasn't much dancing in the song, more on swaying and simple movements as the chorus approached.
"This isn't too bad."
"This song's pretty nice."
"Isn't that the last-placed trainee? He's actually pretty good."
Xin smirked as he looked at the satisfied looks on the audience's faces.
With that, he stepped forward and sang his lines.
"Thunder, you're my love, oh my wonder.
You're a sight I want to wander.
To tell you the truth, this ain't no blunder.
'Cause you're my thunder—"
The mentors grimaced as Xin's not-so-pretty voice cracked at the end of the chorus.
The audience, too, wasn't forgiving of the incident at all.
"Well, he just ruined that."
"What the hell was that? The last-ranked trainee performed better than the Main Vocalist."
After Xin's mistake, he found himself stumbling a lot on stage.
His other teammates, however, pulled through in the end.
Jangmoon remembered June's teachings when they first performed as Team Abyss. Despite Jangmoon's mistake back then, June acted like nothing happened and even helped Jangmoon up.
So, that's exactly what Jangmoon did.
Xin's voice continued to crack like a 13-year-old boy going through the first stage of puberty even as the second chorus approached, so Jangmoon took the initiative to sing louder to mask Xin's voice.
Although the combination didn't sound too good, the audience found Jangmoon admirable for covering his teammate.
Xin, on the other hand, didn't like how Jangmoon's voice was louder than his.
Jangmoon was ranked last in their team!
He doesn't have the right to sing louder than Xin!
However, ignoring Xin's glare, Jangmoon continued to cover for his part.
And as their performance finished, the audience stayed silent. On one hand, they were impressed by Jangmoon's performance. On the other hand, they wanted to laugh because of Xin's mistake.
"That was pretty...bad. But that last-placed trainee surprised me."
"Xin? Can't believe he ranks the highest among them."
It was obvious that the performance got ruined because of one person—Xin.
"That wasn't cool at all," Jihyun said. "Having a voice crack is definitely forgivable, but losing your cool and performing bad all throughout the song isn't."
"If it wasn't for Jangmoon, then you would have ruined the performance completely," Woo-jin continued.
Xin clenched his fists, and he felt anger bubbling in his heart.
This was supposed to be his time to shine!
But this imbecile ruined it.
As expected, people who are close to June are also misfits.
As they walked backstage, Xin decided to confront Jangmoon by pulling him to a secluded area. Despite being a big and tall person, Jangmoon was still a little insecure inside.
"What was that?" Xin snapped.
Jangmoon scratched the back of his head. "I thought you wanted some help since your voice wasn't in the greatest condition."
"My voice was fine," Xin glared. "You fucking ruined everything. I can't believe you covered for my part when you don't even have any talent. You, as the last-placed, trainee should stay in your lane," he said.
Jangmoon looked down at the ground, wondering what he did to receive such words.
Xin was about to say something more when he felt a powerful presence behind him, causing him to halt. Jangmoon and Xin glanced back and saw Team Risers warming up for their performance.
Lo and behold, it was time for the most anticipated performance of the night—Skateboard Ride.
And at that moment, like perfect timing, June finally opened his eyes.
