Chapter 19 #3
All the stylists’ chairs were occupied for the moment, so Andy continued to the performance hall, his nerves crackling as he recalled the first elimination.
Production had reset the giant studio the same way, with the white gallery risers set with simple, numbered chairs to one side–only 49 of them.
There’d be no empty chair for Hyun Woo fans to wonder over.
Across from the entrance stage sat the sleek, gleaming, multi-tiered platform for the final rankings, this time set with only 25 chairs behind the velvet rope.
A pair of techs had pulled open one of the multi-colored lighting panels for a hopefully quick last-minute repair.
Andy looked past them at the chair marked as number one.
He’d sat there last time. Would he still be sitting there at the end of the day?
He turned around to take in the giant screen behind the stage.
Under the pulsing Dream Boy Project logo, the words Top 50.
So, the producers had pulled the extra chair, but hadn’t updated the graphics.
Would they be walking that fine line through the whole broadcast?
A PA found Andy staring at the screen, fetching him for his turn in the makeup chair.
Another reminder of his current number one rank and the fact that he’d undoubtedly be on camera a lot that day.
His touch up turned into an actual hair trim and a replacement for his track suit jacket, with added gold piping, and a new purple arm band, also trimmed in gold, marking his top ten status.
How embarrassing would it be to rank low enough that he’d have to give those back? No pressure.
Once a sound tech had attached his wireless mic, another PA led him to an empty spot close enough to his old pacing corner he almost laughed.
Then he saw who waited there. Min Jae, also in his new gold-trimmed jacket and blue arm band.
Another shared smile, as Min Jae briefly let his mask slip.
They’d be entering together, the PA explained before disappearing, so they should prepare a quick routine.
They stood together in silence, crackling with chemistry, their first time alone since arriving at Sky Village.
Andy inhaled Min Jae’s scent, drinking in the curve of his jaw, the slight tilt of his neck, the stiffness of his shoulders.
He wanted to touch Min Jae so badly his hands started twitching. He shoved them into his pockets.
“The new jackets look good,” Andy said, desperate for any sound to break the sudden tension.
Min Jae chuckled, relaxing his posture a tiny bit. “I guess so, yeah. Any ideas on how we should make our entrance?”
Andy shook his head. He had a hundred other things he wanted to talk about, but he had to assume his mic was hot for as long as he had it on. “No. Only that it’s gotta be good since it’ll make the edit for sure.” He paused, holding Min Jae’s gaze to draw out the silence. “We can do this, right?”
A perfectly innocent question with a hundred possible meanings.
But Min Jae’s knowing stare meant he understood exactly what Andy was really asking him.
He slowly nodded. “With our chemistry?” He smiled, warm, bright, and charming, just as he had that morning in bed beside Andy.
“As long as we make the right moves, nobody will be able to touch us.”
Andy mirrored Min Jae’s smile as his cheeks and ears warmed until they were probably hot to the touch. “Okay, then I say we use our last mission stage intro combined with the final sequence from the killing part duet.”
“Yeah.” Min Jae nodded again. “Yeah, that’ll easily cement our dominance. I like it. Let’s practice.”
The two pieces–the intro and the duet sequence–fit together almost as perfectly as Andy and Min Jae did.
After a few quick run throughs, a PA collected them and brought them to the holding area near the main stage entrance.
Andy found a spot near one of the monitors as the producers started sending groups of two-three guys into the studio.
Some of them had also worked out little entrance routines.
The rest just wowed and stared in wonder as they found their seats.
The producers held Andy and Min Jae to go in last. They stepped out into the bright lights together, striking a sharp, sudden pose, back-to-back. Andy looked out at the assembled contestants, a slow, challenging smirk spreading across his face.
“You really want to know who we are?” Andy asked the suddenly hushed crowd.
He spun, and in a single, fluid motion that mirrored the opening of their duet, Min Jae’s hand found the small of his back, guiding him into a slight, controlled lean.
They held the pose for a beat, a silent, defiant statement, before breaking apart.
“We’re the Thieves of Heart,” Min Jae announced with a low, confident purr.
Shocked, impressed laughter and a few catcalls rippled through the chatter as Andy and Min Jae walked to the risers to find their seats.
The restless Dream Boys could hardly be contained by that point, talking and fidgeting with the frantic, buzzing energy of fifty guys trying not to think about the fact that half of them were about to have their dreams obliterated.
When Si Woo finally walked onstage, his smile bright and his energy high, he practically got a standing ovation.
“Welcome back, Dream Boys!” Si Woo called out from the podium.
“It’s a big day today, as you know. Today, our Top–” A beat as his eyes flicked down to the card in his hand.
“–Dream Boys will go to 25. Some of your dreams will continue. And, some of you–” Another beat, this time clearly planned.
“Let’s just say you’ll get a lot more sleep starting tomorrow. ”
Si Woo’s corporate banquet humor deserved a polite chuckle at best. But the Dream Boys were too keyed-up and nervous for anything less than raucous laughter.
Andy laughed, too, just so he wouldn’t stand out.
But he heard that first pause. Si Woo had been about to say Top 50, only stopping himself at the last moment.
Maybe someone had scribbled that out on his card, leaving him to improvise.
Andy glanced over Si Woo’s head at the screen.
It no longer said Top 50, either. Only Elimination Day.
That was it. No official statement. Not even a mention.
As if Choi Hyun Woo had never existed. He wasn’t just gone. He’d been erased.
Andy pushed the depressing thoughts away before they made him frown, turning his attention back to Si Woo as the bloodbath commenced.
They started announcing ranks with 24 instead of 25, which went to Peak, who’d jumped 8 places from his old rank.
They paused after rank 12, calling two of the guys up at once to announce who’d made the Top Ten cutoff, Tae Oh from Andy’s room and Seo Jin from Andy’s Kingmaker team.
Andy was happy for both of them, but more so for Tae Oh, who broke into the Top Ten.
Leo moved up two ranks to seven. Woo Jin and Tae Woo swapped ranks, with Woo Jin moving to number 4.
Min Jun kept his number 3 rank. Unless the unthinkable was about to happen, Andy would end up at least back at number 2.
Andy shared a glance with Min Jae as Si Woo called them both up to stand at the base of the grand, stepped platform full of ranked Dream Boys. Showtime. A PA handed Andy a mic once he stood at his mark.
“Well, well,” Si Woo continued. “This is the third time I’ve seen the pair of you standing at the end. I’m starting to think neither of you is willing to give up the top two spots.”
Andy grinned, absolutely sizzling with charm as he chuckled.
“Are you jealous, Min Si Woo?” Si Woo playfully snickered as the rest of the Dream Boys burst into roaring laughter.
“Seriously though,” Andy paused, glancing at the guys seated behind him.
“This is an impressively talented group. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before someone knocks one of us off the top.
” He put his arm around Min Jae, an act he would’ve found unthinkable a couple of weeks ago.
“But I don’t mind saying that we’re both impressively talented, too, so they’ll have their work cut out for them. ”
Si Woo laughed as he nodded, a sparkle in his eye as Andy charmed him. “What about you, Min Jae? Is today the day you retake the top spot?”
“If it’s what the Dream Makers want, I’ll happily take it.” Min Jae smiled as he slipped his arm around Andy’s waist. “But Andy deserves it as much as me.”
Si Woo’s smile briefly fell as his eyes flicked to the side. Then it was back in full force as he raised his mic to speak again. “I’m sure. And now it’s time to announce our number one rank. The top ranked Dream Boy, receiving 7,264,307 votes from our global Dream Makers, is Kwon Min Jae!”
Andy ignored the momentary flash of disappointment as he turned toward Min Jae to congratulate him with a full hug. “You totally deserve it,” Andy whispered, knowing his mic would pick it up anyway. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks for keeping the seat warm,” Min Jae quietly replied, barely suppressing his chuckle.
Andy laughed, patting him on the back. “Only the best for our number one Dream Boy.”
Once Andy and Min Jae had taken their new seats atop the others, Si Woo announced that it was time to find out who would be the final contestant in the Top 25.
Andy scanned the risers, seeing so many of his new friends and teammates remaining.
All but one of them were about to be sent home.
Fresh tears blurred his vision until he gingerly wiped one away.
It was the nature of the game, but it still sucked.
Oh Jin Hwan took the final spot, and reality hit for 25–no, 24–guys who would soon pack their bags and go home.
There were too many guys leaving for drawn out goodbyes, so Andy focused on the most important ones.
Si On, his roommate. Sang Chul, Yi Zhe, and Dong Yoon from his Kingmaker team.
The day had been brutal, as expected. Once they wrapped filming, with everyone still gathered in the middle of the performance hall, the PAs began ushering people back to the bus.
At least everyone had more time to exchange contact info and say their final goodbyes back at Sky Village.
Andy found Leo waiting for him near one of the exits when a PA tugged on his arm. “We’d like to record a quick diary after the win,” she explained. “It should only take a few minutes.”
Andy shrugged and waved to Leo. “Okay, whatever you need.”
The PA directed him backstage, leading him toward the small studios they used for confessionals. Min Jae stood near the entry to one with a PA by his side.
“Oh,” Andy said. “Are you doing both of us together?”
“I don’t know,” the PA answered. “They just told me to bring you here.”
Min Jae’s PA gestured toward the door beside him. “They’re ready.”
Andy shrugged and opened the door, anxious to get his diary session over with so he could eat.
His first clue that something was off was the absence of any camera crews.
The second was Director Choi, himself, leaning against the far wall, his arms folded across his chest. Ice filled Andy’s veins for the second time that day.
You didn’t have to be a genius to smell the ambush.
Not a large man, Choi’s presence still managed to fill the room.
Dressed in two pieces of his three piece suit, the jacket folded across the back of the plastic chair, he could’ve come right from an SCG board meeting.
Choi smiled, a shark meeting its dinner, and pushed off the wall. “Andy, Min Jae, welcome.” He gestured toward the small, two-person couch to Andy’s right. “Have a seat, both of you.” He turned to the PA. “That’s all for now. Thank you.”
Andy settled on the couch beside Min Jae, giving Choi the power position, looming over them with all of his five foot seven inches.
“I appreciate your time,” Choi began, once they had the room to themselves, as if they were his colleagues and not his prospective idols.
Maybe that was really how idols were treated.
“I know today’s been stressful, with the eliminations and that unfortunate situation with Choi Hyun Woo.
” His smile dipped enough that the room almost darkened.
“That’s partly why I wanted to chat with you both like this, off the record. I’d like your help.”
Andy could almost hear Min Jae’s frown. His own was probably just as loud. Survival shows had only recently recovered from vote fixing scandals in the past few years. Everything about the meeting smelled wrong.
“How is it we can help you, Director Choi, sir?” Min Jae asked, his speech formal but his voice tight.
Choi’s beaming smile returned with a vengeance.
“I’m glad you asked, Min Jae. My job here is to produce a top notch new idol group with this show.
But my priority is and always will be protecting the SCG Entertainment brand.
With all the tabloid press Hyun Woo’s situation is getting, we need a new, strong narrative to distract the public.
A powerful rivalry between the top two contestants could be the perfect narrative to do so. ”
Not a cheating attempt, then. Choi wanted their help with PR.
Andy almost sighed with relief. Almost. “With all due respect, Director Choi, won’t that just hurt us?
” He glanced at Min Jae, who nodded. “The #MinDy ship has a lot of traction with the Dream Makers who just voted for us. Our chemistry is what they responded to.”
“Chemistry?” Choi’s smile dropped again, his expression shifting from fatherly to boardroom executive in a snap. "Yes. We've all been very impressed by your chemistry." He glanced at one of the ceiling-mounted corner cameras behind Andy. They were being filmed. “Play it.”
The screen mounted to the wall behind Choi flickered to life, showing a grainy, grayscale image of Andy and Min Jae standing on the roof at night.
No, not an image. Andy’s heart dropped to his stomach as he watched himself get in Min Jae’s face.
There was no audio, but their dynamic was as plain as day.
He watched it all. The posturing, the arguing, Min Jae's hand on Andy's face, the slow lean-in for the almost kiss.
The video froze with the pair of them face to face, their lips inches apart.
“As I said,” Choi continued with all the charm of a python squeezing its prey, “a rivalry is a much safer, more manageable story. You will give me that story. You will be rivals again. And this footage," he gestured to the screen behind him, "will just stay between us. Are we clear?"