Chapter 132
Chapter 132. A Small Trigger (4)
The first round of eliminations for *Miro Maze* was finally announced.
All idol fans were focused on the ranking and elimination ceremony aired in the seventh episode of *Miro Maze*.
>[Kang Kang Kang News! *Miro Maze* First Elimination Results]
>The rankings are listed in order.
>+ *Wings Class* (Debut Zone, Rank 1~7)
>Seo Taehyun
>Jung Siwoo
>Joo Eunchan
>Lee Yugeon
>Dan Haru
>Lee Doha
>Kim Wonho
>+ *Feather Class* (No Debut, Survived, Rank 8~13)
>Yuki
>Kang Hajin
>Park Jaeyoung
>Jaiden
>Gong Seok
>Shin Kyungho
>+ 1st Round Eliminated
>Lee Parang, Kim Minwook, Kim Heegun, Yoon Taewon
>+ Scores reset completely, starting over
>+ Voting for 10 days, 3 more eliminated in Episode 9
>+ Final 10 to compete in live finale
– Kang Hajin isn’t in the Wings Class?????
└ 22 This is insane, I was sure he’d be in the top ranks.
└ 33333333333 How did he end up in 9th place???????
└ Ugh, I told you not to get too comfortableㅠㅠㅠㅠ
– Wow, Lee Yugeon skyrocketedㄷㄷ Sympathy votes are seriously scary.
└ Shut up if you don’t know anything. Lee Yugeon got the most individual votes in Round 3.
└ Exactly, that’s what I mean by sympathy votesㅋㅋㅋㅋ. People felt sorry for him because he’s been acting as the breadwinner without parents, so they gave him all the votes.
└ You’re asking for a lawsuit again with that nonsense. I’ve got your PDFs, see you in court~
└ Whatever, you won’t actually sue anyone here~ㅋㅋㅋ. I’m not even making things up. Lee Yugeon’s stans are overreacting as usual.
└ Did you miss the post from someone crying because they got a lawsuit notice yesterday? Just don’t cry at the police station, okay?ㅎ
– So Parang got eliminated in the endㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
– Now it’s really the final stretch for *To Me*… I’ve grown so attached to everyone, it’s such a shame… You all did greatㅜㅜㅜㅠ I hope you find good opportunities to debut elsewhereㅠㅜㅜ
– The debut lineup looks solid? If only ㄱㅎㅈ were in, this would be like a dream survival show.
└ 222 I had my doubts, but it looks good. The problem is, if we add ㄱㅎㅈ, who do we kick out? Let’s just debut all 16 of themㅜ
└ Replace ㄱㅇㅎ with ㄱㅎㅈ, and it’s perfect ㅇㅇ
└ Honestly, I was thinking the same thing.
└ ㄴㄷ…ㅎ
└ There’s a ㄱㅇㅎ fan here too? That’s really rude.
As the debut lineup started to take shape, everyone began chiming in with their opinions.
The first eliminations after a whopping seven episodes.
Ranks that went up and down with no way to predict them.
Three more eliminations in ten days.
And finally, the seven who would debut in the finale.
Since *Miro Maze* had always portrayed all the trainees in a warm light, many Destis felt like they were waking up from a happy dream when faced with this harsh reality.
Amidst the feelings of loss, emptiness, worry, and anxiety.
Even the farewells to the eliminated trainees were ruthlessly kind, as portrayed by the *Miro Maze* production team.
On the official *Miro Maze* iTube channel, solo performance videos of the eliminated trainees were uploaded.
The videos began with interviews capturing the trainees’ feelings and thoughts, followed by a single song they wanted to showcase to their Destis.
>[*To Me*, please stop making me cry]
Eliminated trainees were given studio time, props, and a goodbye stage—what kind of crazy survival show is this?
>[Guys, the goodbye stage was Seo Taeil’s idea]
He even offered to cover the production costs himself to make sure each trainee got a final stage, and personally requested it from *Miro*. *Miro* and the production team hurriedly prepared everything…
– Seo Taeil, please run the country.
– Wow, but the fact that *Miro* and the production team agreed to this is amazing.
– The agency, *Miro*… These trainees must have been with them for a long time…ㅠㅜ I wish it wasn’t true that six more will be eliminated.
The discussion heated up again over the goodbye stages of the eliminated trainees.
And that heated excitement naturally shifted to the surviving trainees.
Who would be eliminated, and who would make it?
With all the scores reset, nothing could be predicted anymore.
>[So what’s going to happen in Episode 8?]
We’ve already seen everything from the third round in Episode 6.
There hasn’t been any announcement about the next round of audience participation.
Episode 9 will be the second elimination ceremony…
What are they doing in Episode 8? Any spoilers?
As everyone anxiously waited, *Miro Maze*’s official account announced the fourth round.
>**[Miro Maze Fourth Round – Guerilla Concert (Including Online Live Broadcast) Announcement]**
>The next competition in *Miro Maze*
>is an offline guerilla concert, broadcast live online.
* * *
“…….”
“…….”
“…What is this, why’s everyone so gloomy?”
Inside a practice room at *Miro*’s new building, the trainees gathered to prepare for the fourth round, the guerilla concert.
Hajin broke the heavy, tense atmosphere that had filled the room, trying his best to start a conversation.
But even Hajin, the master of ice-breaking, had no idea how to handle the situation.
All he could do was pass a box of tissues to Haru, who was sniffing and searching for tissues, likely from crying all night, her eyes swollen.
“…The dorm feels so empty.”
Haru blew her nose loudly and mumbled, pulling tissue after tissue from the box Hajin handed her.
Hajin patted Haru’s back, recalling that her roommate Parang had been eliminated, and scratched his head.
Last night, the eliminated trainees packed their things and left the dorm.
None of the four trainees decided to stay with the company, so they completely left *Miro*, even terminating their contracts.
Both the eliminated and surviving trainees understood what this meant, so there was an emotional breakdown at the dorm last night.
‘I get what everyone’s feeling, so I can’t even say anything.’
The sadness of parting.
The fear that it could be them next time.
The physical and mental exhaustion from this endless competition.
All of these feelings were hitting them at once.
Hajin didn’t have the heart to tell his teammates, who were sniffing through tears, to pull themselves together.
‘And to make things worse, the team lineup is like this….’
Hajin passed the tissue box that Haru had set down to another teammate sitting across from him.
“Seok hyung. You use it too.”
“…Yeah. Thanks, Hajin.”
A timid person and a downcast sparkler.
Hajin glanced at the cameras set up around the practice room and sighed quietly.
Where do I even start to calm them down?
“What’s with everyone? Why are you all like this?”
Hajin, who had raised his hands to comfort them, froze in place.
Someone wearing a neat practice outfit walked in, holding a stack of sheet music in one hand.
It was Jung Siwoo, the last member and leader of the team for this fourth round.
“Have you already decided on the references and concept ideas? I told you to start while I was getting the sheet music printed.”
“Well, uh, hyung. We, uh, were going to, but….”
Hajin stammered, tapping his fingers on his thighs awkwardly as he answered Siwoo’s cynical question.
Even though Hajin didn’t finish his sentence, Siwoo seemed to quickly grasp the situation as he saw Haru and Gong Seok, both with swollen eyes and red noses.
Hajin, thinking that Siwoo would know how to properly comfort the two, looked at him with desperate eyes, silently asking for help.
Perhaps Siwoo understood Hajin’s pleading gaze, as he sighed softly and placed his hands on his hips.
But what Siwoo said next was not what Hajin had expected.
“Dan Haru and Gong Seok. Both of you, go out.”
“…? H-Hyung?”
“Go wash your faces with cold water, and come back when you’ve stopped crying.”
Why is he being like this?
All three trainees, including Hajin, widened their eyes at Siwoo’s icy tone.
But without even a crack in his expression, Siwoo continued coldly.
“Finish crying and feeling sad outside the camera. Our survival isn’t over yet. We don’t even have enough time to prepare, so how long are you going to keep crying?”
“…But, hyung. That, uh….”
“Do you know how desperately the eliminated trainees must have wished for each second? Are you going to waste this precious time by messing up the fourth round because you’re sad?”
“…….”
Hajin, who was about to intervene, thinking that Siwoo’s words might actually make the timid one and the
sparkler burst into tears, shut his mouth at Siwoo’s next words.
He instinctively felt a sense of fear that if he opened his mouth now, things could go south quickly.
Hajin hadn’t known Siwoo for long, but….
Through his experiences so far, he knew well enough that when Siwoo spoke with such seriousness, it was best not to interfere.
‘Besides, to be honest, he’s not wrong.’
Hajin also understood how hurt Gong Seok and Haru must be, which was why he couldn’t easily speak up.
But he did agree that they needed to start preparing for the performance as soon as possible.
And that they weren’t in a position to be feeling sorry for themselves right now.
“…….”
A heavy silence followed Siwoo’s cold final words.
Hajin looked back and forth between Siwoo and the other two trainees.
How much time had passed?
Dan Haru, who had been holding back tears with tightly pursed lips, suddenly stood up.
“…I’m sorry. I’ll… go wash up… and come back….”
Her words were muffled, likely due to the effort she was putting into holding back her tears, but Haru didn’t cry in the end.
She simply bowed her head once, and then quickly ran out of the practice room.
Gong Seok, who had been sitting hesitantly, eventually followed her out.
“…….”
“…….”
Left alone with Siwoo in the practice room, Hajin stared at him intently.
Siwoo, seemingly unaffected by Hajin’s gaze, sat on the floor and neatly organized the sheet music he had printed out.
As he helped Siwoo organize the sheets, Hajin thought to himself.
‘This hyung is really… hard to figure out.’
Although Siwoo was a candidate for the Chosen Regressor, Hajin still found it difficult to define what kind of person Siwoo was.
Although they had gotten closer during the last round with the Blue Flare team and after experiencing infinite regressions together, if you asked whether Hajin truly understood Siwoo?
‘The answer would be not at all.’
Siwoo was the type of person who rarely revealed his true self, but Hajin just felt that….
Siwoo was difficult to approach.
‘Still, since he’s a candidate for the Chosen Regressor, I should try to get closer to him….’
“…Do you have something to say?”
“N-No?”
“You’ve been staring at me.”
Startled by Siwoo’s question, which was asked without even looking up, Hajin became flustered.
It was always like this.
Whenever Hajin talked to Siwoo, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was always a few steps behind.
The color from his hair, bleached silver during the third round, had almost faded, so this time, he had dyed it a soft brown, and his hair fell gently over his forehead.
‘…Fine hair.’
As Hajin recalled the physical features he had seen from the Awakened One’s past, he carefully observed Siwoo, who was still focused on organizing the sheet music.
His face had soft, rounded features with no sharp angles, moderately thick eyebrows, large and deep-set eyes.
A perfectly sculpted nose, and thin, almost translucent lips—it was no wonder Renes drooled over this classic, double-eyelid Agrippa-style handsome face…
“Am I that good-looking?”
“Yes…. Hyung, you’re really handsome… Huh?”
Startled, Hajin snapped out of it, realizing that Siwoo’s words seemed to read his mind. He had been nodding along as if in a trance.
Siwoo, who had finished organizing the sheet music at some point, propped his chin on his hand and smiled at Hajin.
“Really? Thanks. Glad you think I’m handsome.”
“…Uh, I just can’t figure you out, hyung.”
“Yeah. I feel the same way about you.”
…What’s with this guy?
Hajin blinked in confusion at the baffling conversation.