Chapter 23 - Choices Are In

Back on the bottom floor, Shun was giving up. His foot was hurting and he was drenched in sweat. Learning street dance was hard! No wait… everything was hard for him. How did that even happened to him?!

"Health 45%."

"Prince Peter," he said aloud and caught himself, 'Wait, witch. What do you mean 45%?' He finished inwardly and looked over at the other trainees with furrowed brows.

"…"

'Hello?' Shun waved off their concerns.

'Witch? Hello!'

"Who is Prince Peter?" Taemeng, one of the trainees a year younger than him, questioned.

'Witch!'

"Oh, it's someone I knew in my past."

"Oh. Why did you say his name?"

"Uh… Well, he… Prince Peter is really good at having charisma when he presents himself. I was just thinking about how to do it like him," he answered and saw the trainees nodding and asking how to do it.

'Geez, Prince Peter. Now I have to try to tap into your powers of charisma.'

"Charisma 37%."

'I wasn't asking about my charisma, witch.'

"…"

'Prince… Peter.'

"Yes. What would you like to see?"

'Oh my gawd, you are only going to answer me if I call you Prince Peter? Okay, change name to witch again.'

"Name changed failed."

'Try it again.'

"Name changed failed."

'…'

"…"

'I can't believe this…'

Shun rubbed his face and stood up. He looked over at the young trainees, only a few his age, and smiled at them.

"Let's try to be as charming as Suu Jin, okay? He is like Prince Peter. They hold themselves so well."

"Oh, Suu Jin! Yes, he is the best!"

Shun grinned and said he would go make them a meal. As he was cooking, he was laughing at himself. Is this how his parents felt with all 7 of them? This was definitely tiring, but… He didn't mind it, not really.

Yawning, he finished cooking and called the others to come eat. He thought about one of his task: Learn Rap. If he were to try and rap with the music as he danced, maybe that was enough to get it completed. He will try it tomorrow. He looked over at the countdown clock along the wall to see they have less than 12 hours left before performance day.

'Looks like sleep will be close to 0.'

Shun was right. He only had 40 minutes of sleep before time was up. Wetting his face with cold water to wake himself, he took a deep breath and readied himself for performance day. As he waited for his turn, he saw the witch- Prince Peter- still weird to say that name- appeared on the screen.

"Health 43%. Stress 67%."

"Xiong Shun," the speaker man called for him and Shun took a deep breath.

'Alright, go away so I can focus.'

The system left and all he saw was his own self. Preforming the dance, he attempted to rap like the song. It… was… it was terrible and Shun had no idea if he would ever learn rapping. He had terrible flow and he sounded like he was just mumbling everything. He just hoped he could be forgiven by the original artist of the song.

Up on the top floor, performances were also being held. Ping felt he did well and he knew Kiki was great. Although he didn't want anyone to lose, he really wanted Shun to join him up in luxury. So while they were waiting, he went to the confession room where there was a camera to record his thoughts.

"I really hope Shun is doing well and I hope he can come up here with me," Ping admitted, "We made a promise to make it into a team together, so I hope we can make our dreams come true."

Leaving the room, he heard the ding from the speakers around the entire house. Ping joined everyone in the training room with the large television as big as the entire wall. Each person had their pictures shown on the screen with percentage ratings. He saw that Kiki had 88% and he had 75%, He then looked to see Kaiden had 90%.

Ping saw the lowest percentage and although he was sad to see someone leave, he was thrilled to get the chance to reunite with Shun.

Down on the bottom floor, the speaker man-the host, appeared on the screen and announced who from the top will join them. Shun saw their pictures on the screen with percentages next to their names. He was proud to see he was 87%- the highest out of all the trainees on the bottom floor.

"Choose who will go to the top floor."

The host called them one by one and Shun was very certain that he would make it to the top. He had the highest percentage. He was kind to everyone. He cooked for everyone. He even helped taught the trainees!

Shun was certain he would go to the top.

"The choices are in," The host spoke up when the votes were calculated.

'Shun. Shun. Shun,' he was ready to reunite with Ping and Kiki and win this compe-

"Danny."

"…"

He could hear the congratulations to the trainee and he forced a smile to his face. Walking the boy to the elevator, they all said their goodbyes. Then, they said their hellos to the trainee that joined them on the bottom floor. Shun fed the trainees. He went to the training room to practice the dance and song even when he didn't need to anymore. He just…

"Singing ability 32% -> 37%. Dancing ability 29%-> 34%. Health 40%. Stress 71%. Wish to see overall status?"

'No.'

"Task completed: Learn rap. Earned points."

'Can I use my points?'

"…"

'I take that as a no,' Shun frowned and continued to push himself.

He could not believe that he wasn't chosen to go to the 2nd floor when he was the highest percentage there. Danny was right below him with 81%, so why was he chosen and not him. Leaving the training room, he went to the private room to confess.

He sat on the chair and just stared at nothing with furrowed brows. Rubbing his face, he turned to the camera and sighed.

"Danny is a nice guy. I am sure he is happy up there. I…" He let out a long exhale, "I can't let anyone break my concentration. I will go to the 2nd floor and be part of a group. I believe it."

He smiled to the camera, but he was fuming inwardly.

The shower calmed his mood slightly, but not enough to feel betrayed. As he laid in his bottom bunk, he asked the question to his roommates.

"Question: Danny is good, but I was wondering why many of you chose him?"

"Well," One of the trainees spoke up, "He is nice and young. He is also talented. That is why I chose him."

"Mmhmm, same," another chimed in.

Shun just laid there and wondered, was it because he was old that he wasn't chosen by these kids? Frowning, he turned to his side and hoped tomorrow he would get a new challenge that would help him make it to the top floor.

'I cannot give up!'