Falling for the Omega Idol-Chapter 193: SECOND ELIMINATION ROUND (I)
AFTER the contestants had their hair and makeup done, they went to the performance hall. The staff told them that once the filming began, they would need to introduce themselves by groups. There was no set order for it. Whenever the staff called a group, they should go up on the stage and do the introduction. They could introduce themselves in a cute way if they wanted, or they could do it in a funny way. Either was perfectly fine.
Six groups had already gone up on the stage, and they were now sitting on the chairs that had been arranged in front of the stage. No, the chairs where those contestants sat down were actually quite far from the stage. It was like there was a huge empty space between the front of the stage and the rows of chairs.
When it was finally time for Haneul’s group to go on stage, he finally understood the reason for the space. Since they were all backstage and could not really see what was there clearly, it was only now that he had a good look at what was there. On the empty space, there were numbers attached to the floor. They were numbers from ’1’ all the way to ’40’.
Of course, anyone with decent thinking skills could tell that those forty numbers were for the contestants who would survive today’s elimination. So, it had to mean that only forty of them would go on to the next round.
Haneul saw that Seongwoo was trembling a bit, probably already thinking about how nineteen of them would be eliminated in this round. Before they could even start their introduction, he reached over and squeezed the other’s hand gently. Seongwoo looked at him and Haneul gave him a reassuring smile. It seemed to work because Seongwoo stopped shaking. The other smiled back at him in thanks.
"Are you all ready?" Taeyang asked the group.
"Ready as one can be," Robin said in reply.
"Then, let’s do it just like we practiced," Taeyang said.
Haneul smiled a little at the word. This ’practice’ Taeyang mentioned was something they had discussed backstage.
The group moved into their position one by one. First, Taeyang and Joonhyuk stepped forward. They stood side by side and then each of them raised one arm up and curved it slowly inward until their fingertips were almost touching.
"I’m Taeyang," Taeyang smiled cooly despite feeling all cringe inside.
On the other hand, Joonhyuk grinned. "Joonhyuk here!"
Next, Robin and Haneul each knelt down on one knee, one on the left and one on the right. They both stretched their outside arms straight out to the side. Then they brought their other arms up, bending them to follow the curve that Taeyang and Joonhyuk had made with their arms.
"This is Robin, your favorite French guy," Robin said with a playful wink.
Haneul smiled brightly at the camera. "Hi! My name’s Haneul!"
Finally, Seongwoo sat down on the floor in the middle, right below the others. He held his two hands up, putting them together under his chin to form a clear V shape.
"I’m Seongwoo," he said with a shy smile.
When they were all in place, their combined poses finally came together to form the shape of a single, large heart.
The contestants who were already seated let out happy cheers and laughed with delight at their introduction.
After their introduction was over, a staff member came up to them. She smiled and motioned for them to follow her. They walked past the numbers on the floor until they reached the area with all the chairs. The staff member showed them to the seats where they were supposed to sit, so they could join the others. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶
Haneul found his seat and sat down. Robin came and sat down in the chair on his left side, and Taeyang sat down in the chair on his right side. Then, Seongwoo went and sat down next to Robin, while Joonhyuk went and sat down next to Taeyang.
It did not take long at all before the next group was called up to introduce themselves.
"I really wish we could just go straight to the elimination part so I could finally release all of this tension," Robin mumbled under his breath.
"I feel you," Haneul agreed.
"Do you think Lily will be here?" Joonhyuk asked.
"There’s no reason she wouldn’t," Taeyang said simply.
Haneul could understand why Joonhyuk would ask that question. With their filming locations changing, it was definitely a lot of trouble to travel from Seoul to wherever they were. This was true not just for her, but for all the mentors as well. But that’s part of their job, and they just had to deal with it.
As they continued to wait, their group kept on talking among themselves. And before long, every single contestant was finally seated on the chairs. And then the bright lights in the whole performance hall suddenly dimmed. When the lights came back on just a moment later, Lily was already standing at the very center of the stage.
Lily looked over the seated contestants. Her expression was serious, but it was not unkind. She held the microphone and spoke. Her voice was clear and steady, and it carried easily across the quiet hall.
"Hello everyone. You have all worked very hard on your vocal mission. We have seen your effort and your passion on that stage. Now, the time has come to learn the results. The votes from the public have been counted, and these results will determine your future here."
She paused for a moment, giving everyone time to take in what she had just said. When she continued, her gaze was firm, yet it also held a clear understanding of the pressure they were all feeling.
"However, the path forward is a narrow one. Out of all of you here today, only forty contestants will move on to the next round. This means that for many, the journey ends here. No matter what happens, you should be proud of what you have already achieved. Let us now begin."
