Second Try Idol

The corridor where Jin-Sung ran into was dark.

"Huff... Huff, why, why are we doing this?" Lee Jin-Sung panted heavily as he barricaded the door with his body, suddenly looking stricken. He turned his gaze to the camera filming him. "Everyone, I’m very scared right now..."

There wasn’t anything inherently frightening about the situation, yet the mere fact that it involved being chased was enough to terrify the easily spooked Lee Jin-Sung. On top of that, the echoes of other members’ screams, the menacing footsteps of the special forces, and the recent elimination of Suh Hyun-Woo amplified his fear.

Indeed, a significant source of his panic was witnessing Suh Hyun-Woo being eliminated right before his eyes. As they were fleeing, the ominous stomping of the special forces had abruptly ceased. Turning back, he saw Suh Hyun-Woo had fallen with numerous special forces swarming over him like a horde of zombies. Lee Jin-Sung had felt a chill run down his spine and his blood had turned to ice.

This was no ordinary game. If he got caught, he might endure the horrific fate his member had faced.

"Oh, I absolutely hate this." Lee Jin-Sung trembled and rubbed his arms as a wave of goosebumps swept over him. He continued speaking to the phone’s camera while surveying his surroundings. "Listen up, everyone, I can hear footsteps outside, but I will venture out again once they stop."

The stairwell was pitch-dark with only the green glow of an emergency light piercing the gloom.

"..."

It was eerie.

Lee Jin-Sung recognized this scene from the thriller dramas the old crew loved. They always featured someone in a desperate chase like this...

"Ugh..." He swallowed nervously, almost laughing at the irony. Engaging in such thoughts during filming was ludicrous. It was something he’d never confess to the other members.

‘Being here is terrifying enough!'

How can the world be filled with so many frightening things?

Just as he imagined a scene from a thriller drama, he found himself wishing to confront the special forces instead. This place was too dark and damp, emitting an ominous vibe as if something sinister might emerge any second. If he heard even a slight sound of footsteps while he waited... he knew he wouldn’t be able to stand it.

Jin-Sung suppressed the instinct to look toward the even darker and more frightening staircase below, and remained focused on the door and the camera amidst palpable tension.

Thump, thump—

Silence enveloped him, his nerves on edge, unprepared to detect any sign.

Clunk!

"Jin-Sung?"

"Eeeeeek!!!" Lee Jin-Sung screamed at the top of his lungs as Park Yoon-Chan entered through the emergency exit. His shriek echoed through the room.

"Why are you screaming? What’s up?" Park Yoon-Chan got startled and stepped back.

Recognizing his fellow bandmate, Lee Jin-Sung finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly approached him. "Hyung! I've missed you so much, gosh! I can't remember a time when I wanted to see you more!"

"What were you up to here?"

"Hiding! Hyung, we’re in big trouble. Suh Hyun-Woo hyung got caught."

"Suh Hyun-Woo hyung?" Park Yoon-Chan scanned the desolate third-floor corridor, then helped Lee Jin-Sung to his feet. "Let's head out. Joo-Han hyung said he has found all the clues and abilities."

"Really? That quick?" Lee Jin-Sung’s face lit up with excitement, and Park Yoon-Chan nodded with a slight smile.

"It seems you were really scared. Have you been hiding here all this time?"

"...Not exactly! I did a bit of scouting around!" He hadn’t discovered anything, though, given how tense he had been about the situation outside.

Lee Jin-Sung awkwardly stood up and could tell from Park Yoon-Chan's casual demeanor that he had anticipated as much. Knowing that Park Yoon-Chan hadn’t expected much from him didn’t bother Lee Jin-Sung. Rather, Park Yoon-Chan's presence was immensely reassuring.

With the game nearing its climax, Park Yoon-Chan was the only solid support Lee Jin-Sung felt he could depend on. He trailed behind Park Yoon-Chan, all smiles. "Hyung, where are we headed now?"

"Joo-Han hyung told me to come find you since we've got the key now. We need to stick together."

Lee Jin-Sung didn’t question it. After all, today’s game was about cooperating.

Jingle, jingle-

A mysterious sound could be heard from Park Yoon, but Lee Jin-Sung didn’t notice.

Unlike Kang Joo-Han and Suh Hyun-Woo, Lee Jin-Sung had never worried about his share of the screen time. He was now a hero entering the villain's den.

***

The only safe zone in the building was the practice room. After Lee Jin-Sung and Park Yoon-Chan entered, they saw Kang Joo-Han looking serious while inspecting the hints.

"You here?"

"Hyung! We found all the hints, right?" Lee Jin-Sung was unusually more excited than usual. He thought it was almost over and it would end in their victory. He even admired how Kang Joo-Han was the brain of Chronos.

He hated being scared, but his competitive spirit made the situation very welcome to him. Although Suh Hyun-Woo had been eliminated, they were so close to securing gifts for the Rings.

"But what about Yoo-Joon hyung?"

"He's been eliminated," Kang Joo-Han nonchalantly replied.

"Huh? Can we keep going with so many eliminations?"

It occurred to him that even one elimination meant failure. He was somewhat puzzled, but now that everything was almost over, it wasn't enough to stir his curiosity. Even if the circumstances didn’t really make sense given the rules, games like this often proceeded without issues in such group variety shows. All it mattered was if the content was entertaining or not.

This time, Suh Hyun-Woo had been eliminated too early, so they probably just pretended that didn’t happen just to continue.

"So where is the key?"

Kang Joo-Han laid out all the clues. "It seems simpler than we thought. It's somewhere around the emergency exit on the third floor. Anyway, it's a high and dark place where the light is always on. In this building, there are many places where the light is on 24/7, but the only dark place where the light is on is there."

"Ooh..."

Park Yoon-Chan added, "Since the trainees also practice here and we practically live here these days, I thought the clues were talking about the practice room at first. But that didn’t make sense later since there are too many practice rooms."

"The highest emergency exit, located somewhere from the third floor to the rooftop, must be the place," Kang Joo-Han said and collected the clues before naturally passing them all to Lee Jin-Sung.

"…Huh?" Lee Jin-Sung inadvertently clutched the clues to his chest and looked at Kang Joo-Han with a puzzled expression.

Kang Joo-Han smiled firmly and said, "Did today feel rewarding to you, Jin-Sung?"

He didn't say it outright in front of the camera, but he was asking what else did Jin-Sung contribute to the group's escape besides running away and hiding.

"Ah, no…"

Of course, Kang Joo-Han was aware that Lee Jin-Sung had been busy running and hiding all day but, in fact, that was essentially performing his role properly. He would have made enough content for the broadcast. But it wasn't right for Lee Jin-Sung to be aware of this. Otherwise, the planned scenario wouldn't unfold.

Kang Joo-Han signaled to Park Yoon-Chan, who told Lee Jin-Sung, "Since you are the fastest runner and the best at finding things among us, how about you take the lead and check out this location?"

"Huh? What about you guys?"

"We will have to look elsewhere. We are not a hundred percent sure if it’s going to be there."

"There's not much time left, so we need to split up and look. That's the most likely place."

Lee Jin-Sung hesitated for a while but eventually nodded. "Okay. I’ll do it."

Now that the same-aged duo consisting of Suh Hyun-Woo and Goh Yoo-Joon, the fastest runners, was not around, Lee Jin-Sung was indeed the fastest remaining member. Although it was true that he had mostly given up on finding clues and abilities in the latter half of the game and had just run as fast as he could.

"I’ll do it!" Lee Jin-Sung looked at Kang Joo-Han and Park Yoon-Chan. Overcoming his fear was better than the powerless and frail pair consisting of Kang Joo-Han and Park Yoon-Chan getting caught and Jin-Sung having to escape alone!

"Jin-Sung, you’re so cool!"

Encouraged by Kang Joo-Han's praise, Lee Jin-Sung stood up, ignited with a sense of justice to lead the game to victory.

Jingle-

"…Huh?"

‘Was that a jingling sound, or did I imagine that?’

Anyway, Lee Jin-Sung was about to head out. "I will go check it out, so you guys be careful and visit the other locations."

"Sure~"

Lee Jin-Sung looked around and stepped outside. Just a while before, there had been so many special forces on the second floor, but strangely, now they were scarcely visible.

‘Is it because we’re in the latter half of the game, so fewer people are around?'

This was rather fortunate. It would be much easier to go up to the emergency exit.

"Hmm, by the way, where is this emergency exit supposed to be? It wasn't there when I went earlier," Lee Jin-Sung said while recording.

He hadn't just stayed in one spot by the emergency exit. Even though he was running away, his conscience wouldn't let him stay still, so he had wandered through several corridors within the emergency exits. At that time, there was no place that really made him think there was a key hidden there.

"Anyway, I’ll go check it out."

Leaving his puzzlement behind, Lee Jin-Sung arrived at the emergency exit on the third floor.

The atmosphere was dark and damp as expected. The only sounds were his footsteps and breathing as he climbed the stairs.

The ambiance made him feel as if something, be it a ghost or a person, might appear at any moment... Even with all his determination, it was a disconcerting feeling that even Jin-Sung found difficult to manage.

"Ah, I should have come with Hyun-Woo or Yoon-Chan hyung. It's less scary with them around."

Being with the members who said they didn’t believe in ghosts usually made things less frightening and sped up the process.

"I'm scared, really scared, everyone."

The only thing occasionally visible was the green light of the emergency exit. Beyond that, complete darkness. Jin-Sung was nervously talking to his phone and searching around the emergency exit on the third floor.

"Hello. Jin-Sung?"

"…!"

He heard a voice from the floor below the emergency exit. Was there just one person? Or more? Anyway, someone was coming up the stairs to meet Jin-Sung.

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