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"I feel like throwing up."

"That's just because you're nervous..!"

".. or because you didn't eat anything yet today?"

"Are you really telling someone, who's about to throw up, to eat something?"

"I-...I guess? But you know what, never mind. I just wanted to help."

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\\ Wednesday Morning, 07th August 2019; The fourth and final day of the first mission //

\\ The atmosphere in the dorms and the practice rooms was tense. Everyone was exhausted. The trainees' muscles were sore and their voices only barely held up. And everyone was asking the same question: When would this be over? //

Everywhere you looked, you could see empty coffee cups, energy drink bottles and sometimes even used band aids and bandages.

It was pure chaos, and this description didn't only fit to how the rooms looked like, but also how it must have looked like in each trainee's mind.

Since the day before, the cafeteria went dead quiet every time the trainees would go there to eat. There were only be some occasional conversations, but those died down again fairly quickly as no one wanted to waste their, very limited, power on talking about unnecessary stuff.

[ B ] Kim Hyunji (YMC): "This is hell. I'm SO glad it's going to be over soon.."

The past few days had brought out the very best and the very worst in everyone, but, most importantly, it helped the trainees to grow closer, even if mostly just with the other girls in their groups.

The older trainees suddenly transformed into mother-figures for the younger ones and did a very good job keeping the girls from fighting, even though they were just as exhausted as everyone else.
The youngest trainees did their best to keep up a, at least moderately, good vibe and cheered those up who were the most exhausted.

[ D ] Jang Soohyuk (Cre.Ker): "Same. And I just hope all of this exhaustion and training pays off in some way..! If I'm not going to end up in at least C Class, I'm going to cry."

On the fourth day, every team had agreed on having breakfast as early as they could to have more time to train, even Team Purple was sleepily sitting at their table, slowly nibbling on their toasts.

Suddenly, they heard the speakers go off:

"Good morning there, dear trainees!"

The girls flinched at the loud voice.

[ B ] Lim Heigyeon (Starship): "Is it bad that I've grown kinda scared of his voice? The last time he sent us a message, he gave us the worst news ever...!"

Heigyeon's team members looked at her as to say 'Don't worry about it, I feel the same' and then concentrated on what else MC Lee Jongsuk had to say.

"Today is the last day of the challenge!"

You could hear quiet cheering coming from some of the trainees.

"And I'm so glad it is. It hurt me and your mentors so much to see you that tired... And all three of us wish we could somehow magic away all your pain..!"

Some of the older trainees only scoffed at those words, while the younger ones started thinking about how nice it would be to have magical powers.

"Sadly, we aren't capable of performing magic.. Let's get to what I actually wanted to tell you. Since this is the last day of the challenge, you all know that today is also the day of the re-evaluation of your grades!"

[ F ] Zelestia Wu (Pledis): "Oh my god, I totally forgot about the reason we are doing all of this..!"

"To re-evaluate you, and to say whether you got better over the past few days, or not, the three trainers and I need a foundation to critique you on. That foundation is represented by the videos you are going to record today!"

[ B ] Lee Haneul (YMC): "Yeah, could have placed a bet on us recording those short videos, just as they did during the other Produce seasons.."

"You will record those videos in those six groups you split into during the first evening of this challenge. After the lunch break, you'll go back to your practice rooms, as you would for a normal training session with your team. There will be staff members waiting for you, explaining to you how exactly this is going to go!"

There was a short pause in Jongsuk's monologue and the trainees used it to break out into quiet mumbling.

[ A ] Park Yuju (Fantagio): "I am already so nervous... I really don't want to mess up!"

[ F ] Yamauchi Sakura (Pledis): "This feels like psychological warfare.... they are already making us panic, even though we still have to go to one last training with our last extra mentor..!"

"I wish you the best of luck for your recording. I'm sure all of you worked really hard for this, now you just got to reward yourself by absolutely smashing the recording!"

You knew that this was the last part of his 'speech' by the way he pronounced things.

[ B ] Yun Hyemin (Stone): "I don't wanna lose my spot in B Class.. I don't wanna lose my spot in B Class.. I don't wanna lose my spot in..."

There were many trainees repeating a similar mantra to Hyemin's over and over again. This recording was the one and only chance to move up one or more classes, or to stay exactly where you were. But the fact that you could also move down classes made everyone unbelievably anxious.

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[ just pretend this isn't ITZY ]

"Let's start the recordings. Who wants to go first?"

All five trainees looked around the room, no one really wanted to go first.

"Okay then... I'll just choose one of you randomly..!"

[ B ] Kim Sooyun (BBC): "Okay, okay. I'll go first.."

The other members of Team Pink looked at their friend in awe.

"Alright. Please go stand on that spot right there, it's marked with an X taped on the floor. Tell me when you're ready to record, I'll start the camera then. Greet the mentors, say your name, which Class you're in and what your team's color is. Then you're free to start dancing and singing!"

Sooyun was visibly nervous and tried calming herself down with a few deep breaths while looking at the other girls in her team.

"Into The New World will be first. Then Dumb Dumb. After that Pick Me, then Glass Bead. Lastly Like Ooh-Ahh. Dancing bits and pieces of the choreography and only singing a few lines of the song is still better than doing nothing, okay? Don't think too much about the mentors or the MC, just dance and sing. You can worry about your grade later, understood?"

The trainee nodded, still trying to stop her hands from shaking.

A few seconds later, Sooyun gave the staff member the okay sign and started her recording.

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In general, all of the six groups were doing the same that day.

One trainee recorded their video for about a minute or two, sat down again and then the next trainee would come up.

But some rooms were also filled with tears and gasps at times.

Sometimes, the room had a very happy vibe to it, and sometimes the atmosphere was crushing.

Who would come out of this day as a triumphant winner?

And who would succumb to the pressure and deliver one of their worst performances?

a/n: this is a slightly shorter chapter, but I really just wanted to give you something after all these days as my exams are finally over!!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter anyway, even though it's kinda boring >.<

and PLEASE REMEMBER: voting for and commenting on this chapter is the LAST chance for you to save your trainee a spot in a higher class than they are in right now! NO ONE is safe. EVERYTHING can change. I will NOT hesitate to put a former A Class trainee into F Class!

also I didn't proof read this chapter lmao