章 9: New Beginnings (4)
More and more contestants walked through the doors, and by the time the clock hit 7 A.M., Reggie hadn't showed.
The recording was to begin at 8 A.M., but for attendance reasons they wanted every staff and every contestant to arrive by 7, and right now, Reggie was breaking it.
Of course Joon-woo couldn't message Reggie, as they weren't allowed phones during the recordings, so his worry only grew. He had only known the man for about a week, but Joon-woo considered Reggie a friend. Whether it was people Park Joon-woo had none, Joon-woo didn't know.
He tapped anxiously on his arm, watching the metal door, watching for Reggie to walk through. It was when Producer Jang-soo began to call names Joon-woo felt a pit in his stomach grow.
"Bo Jaesang! Ryeo Hyun! Mi Yong!" Producer Jang-soo called name after familiar name. Contestants raised their hands, name after name. In fact Joon-woo almost missed his name, being too fixated at the door. Too fixated on Reggie.
It was then the dreaded name was called, "Reggie Lee!" Producer Jang-soo called, looking around the floor for a raised hand. Suspiciously though, Producer Jang-soo held back a smile from his usually blank face.
Joon-woo caught it, he caught the slight look of satisfaction on the Producer's face. Running his hand through his hair he worried, what was Reggie told last night?
Just as Producer Jang-soo went to move on, a familiar face entered sweaty through the metal door.
Reggie.
His face was red with sweat and embarrassment and his eyebags doubled in size. "Here!" He called, "I'm here!"
Producer Jang-soo paused at the entrance, nodding with a sour expression. He then moved on to call the rest of the contestants, but that's not to say everyone else did.
Joon-woo immediately sped walk in Reggie's direction, using his height to go unnoticed through the small crowd. He looked Reggie in the eye and shook his head. Joon-woo looked left and right making sure no cameras were trying to get early footage, before resolutely looking at Reggie.
"What… Are you okay?" He asked, dazed by Reggie's tired expression.
Reggie waved his hand as if dismissing Joon-woo, "Yes, yes… I just didn't get much sleep." He explained.
Eyeing Reggie suspiciously, Joon-woo shook his head. "Okay…" He replied, deciding to press later, rather than now. Afterall, they now had a show to film.
–+–
They sat in their respective seats. Joon-woo, in his 13th seat, was nervous. As Ha-rin, he never watched this specific survival show, though it was quite well known. And for once, Joon-woo didn't know what to expect.
Then, the Producer10 logo that was playing along the backdrop of the stage, went dark. Infact, the whole room went dark. Joon-woo couldn't even see about four feet in front of him.
Then, blue and purple stage lights were cast upon the stage, revealing non-other than Misa Asaki. Contestants jeered and clapped at her well-dressed figure. She wore a long yet tight white dress that had a large fluffy lining along one of the shoulders. She looked grand.
"Hello contestants! Welcome to season three of Producer10!" She cried.
Contestants hollered and yelled in celebration, Misa smiled at this.
"This season is going to be packed with many challenges, so it won't be easy…" She said, voice narrowing.
Suddenly lights lit up the seats of the top five contestants. Then the stairway down to the floor was lit, then a small table was illuminated in the middle of the floor. All the cheers died out immediately, as all eyes were suddenly on the top five.
Jung Hyun-Ok, the second placed contestant's expression seemed to falter at this, and everyone saw it.
"Without further ado, let's begin our first challenge!" Announced Misa, a dramatic tone laced within her voice.
Suddenly, the light lit upon the first four contestants was cut, and only 5th place Park Youngsoo had a light upon him. He visibly stiffened.
"Contestant Park Youngsoo, please come down and roll through our wheel!" Misa revealed a light highlighting what was on the small table in the center of the floor.
It was a lottery wheel. One where many numbered balls were spun around in a circle until one was dispersed at random. It was the lottery wheel that was gonna decide teams, Joon-woo assumed.
Park Youngsoo stood from his seat, placing his hair behind his ear as he tried his best to confidently look at his goal, the wheel. When he made his way down he slowly began to spin at the wheel, and after a few spins, a blue ball popped from the many. Everyone's breath stopped.
With a quiet hand, Park Youngsoo picked up the ball, reading the number with pursed lips. He looked up the rows of trainees and held the ball just in view of a red blinking camera. "Contestant 39…" Park Youngsoo revealed.
After a few moments of silence, Reggie revealed himself by walking onto the stairs. Joon-woo slowly nodded, noting any anxiety in Reggie's face. Joon-woo found it. Etched into Reggie's usual confident look was unsurity, an unsurity that was usual for many other contestants, but not Reggie.
He began his way down and stood awkwardly next to Park Yongsoo.
Joon-woo watched as a staff member gestured for the two of them to move a bit to the left of marked tape labeled 'Team Five'. It was then Joon-woo remembered how this challenge worked.
It was a team challenge and the teams were decided by a lottery machine… Joon-woo as ha-rin had made fun of the concept when she heard of it, but now, he was living it
Gwak Kang-Dae, the 4th place contestant was next. Then 3rd, then 2nd, then the one everyone had their eyes upon. Mi Yong.
Mi Yong wore a blank, confident expression. Everything was confident about him, his stride, his face, the way he ruffled his hair. If Joon-woo were in Mi Yong's shoes, he would've probably cried, and he thought of Mi Yong as a genius for being so calm.
His thoughts of admiration were interrupted by a familiar stare coming his way. Mi Yong's stare from this morning. Joon-woo shivered at the memory. But then, a light was cast upon him.
"Number 13, Park Joon-woo." Mi Yong said, reading upon a red lottery ball.
Joon-woo hadn't even realized the man had turned the lever, but Mi Yong had, and he called Joon-woo's name.
Joon-woo took a deep breath, as he began to make his way down.
–+–
Using the wheel, they were split into teams of ten. Team Five had Reggie, who stood in the middle of their leader, 5th place Park Youngsoo, and a group of already well acquainted contestants. Joon-woo looked at the team and frowned, he knew the usual Reggie could easily get along with the group, but right now Reggie seemed to be anything but.
He shook his head, turning his head towards Team Four. Bo Jaesang and Ryeo Hyun got on a team together, Joon-woo didn't recognize anyone else. In Team Three, Joon-woo recognized no one, but the team seemed to be already chatting amongst themselves. That worried Joon-woo, as the only other team that had seemed to be united by recognition was Team Two.
Team One, Joon-woo's team, seemed to be the worst off.
They had 50th and 49th place, who stood quivering in the back. A group of two contestants that were throwing up compliments at Mi Yong just this morning, were at it again, standing next to Mi Yong as if they were close. Everyone else on Joon-woo's team seemed to be… fine. Forgettable, but fine.
Misa watched upon the groups of contestants with a now, hardened blank face. She cleared her throat.
"Now your groups…" She began, stepping to the side of the stage as the backdrop changed.
There were the five teams. Each team had ⅕ of the backdrop and in their ⅕ was a chart of the team members, their rank, and then at the bottom, the teams average rank.
Joon-woo had to stop himself from cringing as each average was plastered onto the screen. Team One had an average of 34th place. Every other team had an average of 20 or more. Joon-woo rubbed his temple at the sight, Mi Yong, lightly hissing at the number himself.
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