Falling for the Omega Idol-Chapter 197: SECOND ELIMINATION ROUND (V)

"AND now," Lily said, her voice dropping to a more serious tone. "We move on to our top five. These are the contestants who stand the closest to their dream of debut. Let’s see who will take these last spots."

As Lily prepared to announce the top five, the camera swept over the remaining contestants. Many of them wore a hollow look in their eyes. Their shoulders were slumped, and they stared ahead without really seeing anything. It was the look of people who had already accepted their fate. They seemed to believe that their names would not be called, and that this was the end of their journey.

One of them was Seojun. With only five remaining contestants left to be called, he felt sure his name would not be one of them. His group had not done very well in the vocal mission. Even his ranking from the first elimination was quite low. He knew that he’s lacking in talent. His singing was only average, and his dancing was even worse. He would understand if no one had voted for him.

He had done his best though. No matter the result, no one could say that he was lazy or that he did not put in the work. He already knew that he would not debut with his subpar talent. So, he had been preparing himself in case he was eliminated. But despite all that, he still felt reluctant to go. And he could only think of one reason why.

He glanced over to where Haneul was standing. He could not help but stare at the other’s beautiful face, which was currently glowing with happiness. When Haneul’s name was called, he was genuinely happy for him. Because if anyone deserved to go to the next round, it was Haneul. But it also made Seojun wish even more that he would not be eliminated. He wanted more time. More time to spend with Haneul.

And in that moment, Seojun understood something. He realized he might not just be attracted to Haneul. He might actually like him in that romantic sort of way.

He tried his best not to give too much meaning to his feelings, because that was not what he should focus on right now. He might not have joined this program to debut as an idol, but trying to stay in the show as long as possible should be his primary goal. After all, the longer his exposure was, the higher his chance to be noticed by entertainment agencies. And yet, here he was, thinking about staying so he could spend more time with Haneul. If this was not liking the other, then he did not know what it was.

Seojun sighed to himself. What a nasty time to realize this now. But then again, it’s not like he could do anything even if he had realized it sooner. How could he just up and confess to Haneul when they were in the middle of the program? Besides, his feelings were not yet that deep that he would risk whatever friendship they had developed just so he could say that he liked the other.

He continued to stare at Haneul. If he was going to be eliminated today, he decided he might as well spend the rest of his time looking at Haneul’s lovely face.

Lily looked at the card in her hand. "And now, for the fifth rank," she announced. The entire hall seemed to hold its breath. The pause stretched out, filling the space with a tight, nervous energy. "Our navigators had chosen..." Then her voice cut clearly through the silence. "Park Mirae."

Park Mirae stood up, putting on a look of shock. But deep inside, he was very pleased. Even though he thought his rank could have been higher, fifth place was still acceptable. It felt good since his rank was higher than Kang Haneul’s. Then he remembered the cameras that were moving around, so he squeezed out a few tears from the corners of his eyes. He made sure that he still looked good as he did so.

All of his teammates from the vocal mission had already been called, so there was no need for him to hug anyone. Thank God for that. He walked forward. A staff member gestured for him to go up on the stage. That made him feel thrilled. It made him feel special. As he passed by Kang Haneul, he lifted his chin a little higher. But to his annoyance, the other did not even look in his direction. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

He scoffed on the inside. What a pretentious prick. He decided he had to make sure to lower the other’s rank in the next elimination. It would be even better if the other was eliminated completely. After all, he could not let another Omega debut with him.

Lily then called the fourth ranked contestant, an Alpha named Jeon Hyunsik. This came as a surprise to some. But maybe it should not have been. He did do well during the vocal mission. He also had a decent amount of screen time during the past two episodes, this part, of course, the contestants didn’t know. What was more surprising was the third ranked contestant, another Alpha named Li Wei. His team did not really do that well during the vocal mission, and his screen time was also very abysmal. And yet, he still ranked third.

The two stood on the stage with Park Mirae.

Lily turned to the three contestants on the stage. "Before we continue, would any of you like to share a few words with our navigators?"

The three started to give their speech.

"Thank you so much for this chance," Park Mirae said, his voice shaking with emotion as he wiped a tear. "I will work even harder from now on. I will not waste your votes. For my family and friends, thank you for supporting me. I miss you all!"

"I’m so incredibly happy right now!" Jeon Hyunsik said with a bright, cheerful laugh. "Thank you for believing in me. Let’s keep going higher together!"

Li Wei, on the other hand, gave his speech in Chinese. After that, a staff gestured for them to walk their rightful positions on the floor up front.

"And now, for our final two contestants..." Lily said with anticipation.