IDOL SURVIVAL - Chapter 9 (EARLY ACCESS) (Patreon)

Russian Roulette

Heat rippled from the enormous round bulbs that spelled RELAY at the host’s back. The glow around him was angelic, and SeoYeon hoped the bright lights hid her blush. To him, she was just another pink blob making up the audience of survivors. Even if she managed to stand out, it was only for being the auntie amongst all these youthful girls.

The host threw his hands up as he finished his explanation of the next challenge, rousing excited noises from the girls.

“-and remember, Idol Survivors, the mic relay is a test of teamwork.” He winked. SeoYeon’s tummy fluttered.

A hand at her elbow yanked her from daydreams of the nation’s heartthrob. AeRi had Sara locked in with her other hand and was hurrying them towards Wisung, sat in a wheelchair with her leg in a cast, to group up. SeoYeon had somehow become part of a clique, and, despite being the oldest member, was subject to the prettiest member's whims.

AeRi the faerie was a force to be reckoned with. She made SeoYeon nervous. Better to be with her than against her, she figured. At least... until a better option arose.

They had been told to form groups of five. With all of their surviving girls from the last challenge, they made up a group of four:

SeoYeon, sporting number one on all of her uniforms, known unfortunately for being the oldest contestant in the entire competition.

AeRi, who wore the number six, the self-proclaimed ‘faerie’ of the show.

Sara, who entered with six other girls, knowing their agency expected to lose at least one of them, had the number thirty-three.

And Wisung, the closest thing to a star of the last episode after getting shot in the leg in a mistake by the producers. She was number seventeen.

They needed one more girl, and SeoYeon could already see AeRi’s eyes scraping the mass of pink-uniformed contestants. Her face lit up, causing an added twinkle to her sparkly, ostentatious make-up - she had found the one she wanted. She hurried forward, corralling them with Wisung rolling along at the back of the pack, towards a small blonde girl that had the number twenty-three printed on her back.

The girl jumped like a spooked rabbit when AeRi grabbed her arm and began attempting to convince her to join them. Apparently her name was Chyou. Her appearance was familiar to SeoYeon, although purely because of her connection to Sami. She didn’t understand why AeRi would take an interest in the scrawny kid, but she knew better than to question their tactician.

Like stepping through fog, Sami appeared at Chyou’s side with a protective stance - feet apart and arms folded across her chest. She shot AeRi down firmly, but politely, while Chyou nodded her agreement with anything Sami said. AeRi was understanding in her acceptance of defeat to them. But SeoYeon could see the frustration in her from behind. AeRi did not like to be told no.

Maybe it was disloyal, but if Chyou had taken AeRi up on her offer... SeoYeon would have immediately run to Sami to take her spot. It was obvious to every girl on the show that Sami was the strongest survivor, and a reliable leader. Hers was the only group not to lose a member in the double speed challenge, and she was the only girl with any real life experience. There were plenty of trainees, maybe one or two that had played the love interest in a music video. But when it came to being a real idol, Sami was well ahead of the rest. When they had been going through the introduction performances in the first episode, SeoYeon hadn't thought much of Sami being from GAL, a group more famous for a suicide than music show wins. Then she'd seen Sami dance, and had been pretty impressed. Then the challenges had begun, and SeoYeon realised she had made a grave mistake not buddying up with her from the start.

AeRi was the next best thing, she told herself. Because AeRi always had a strategy, and SeoYeon had never been able to crack the secret code to becoming an idol. At twenty-nine, there was no agency that would take her, no opportunities to showcase herself, and even reality survival shows didn’t call her back after the first audition. The thought of reaching thirty and still being a trainee… It made all her dreams seem pointless. Her original management company had dropped her at twenty-four when she didn’t make it into their girl group debuted that year… or the one debuted three years prior… or the co-ed group a year before that…

And now, she had one chance. The last chance. Even if the premise of the show wasn’t deadly, Idol Survival would still have been her last shot at becoming an idol.

AeRi had selected her own next-best-thing: number ninety-eight. She bowed politely and introduced herself as Sohee. The new girl couldn’t keep her eyes from sliding to Wisung every few moments, even when AeRi was demanding all attention on her. SeoYeon made sure to smile and offer excited fist pumps after the pep talk AeRi offered once they had lined up behind their coloured cube. Sohee looked relieved to be a member of such a confident group.

This time, they were group sunshine.

“There's a trick to winning this challenge,” AeRi announced in their first practice session. They were all sat cross-legged, bar Wisung, and pouring over the song they had been assigned for the challenge at the end of the week. A producer crouched in the corner of the room manning a camera while the lenses of a multitude of stationary cameras were all trained on them from tripods or wall brackets.

Sara leant forward, twin braids swinging under her chin. “Really?” she cooed excitedly.

AeRi grinned at her own greatness. “It's all about learning certain parts really well,” she explained, glancing about the group to ensure they were all staring at her with the same level of awe and attention as Sara. “And then we carefully co-ordinate who gets the mic when.” SeoYeon did her best to appear engaged. She would follow AeRi’s orders regardless, but she knew the younger girl preferred for her to play her part in front of the cameras. “So if we each take a part, learn it perfectly, then plan out the mic order, it'll be a piece of cake!”

Sohee clapped and ‘ooh’d before announcing, “That's so smart, AeRi!”

Wisung and SeoYeon both agreed with head bobs and smiles, neither had it in them to match Sara and Sohee’s enthusiasm. Wisung hadn’t been out of bed for long, and the chair was tiring her out. At least she could be grateful that the next challenge was vocally aligned rather than dance. SeoYeon had been expecting the producers to make an allowance for Wisung to get a week’s break to recover, given it was their mistake, especially since it would be so distressing to see her survive the accidental shot, only to be knocked out immediately the next week. She wouldn’t tell them how to do their jobs, though, she was just happy to be allowed through the stage door at her age.

They split the parts equally down to the character and got to work practising individually first. Once they each had their own parts memorised, they came together to spend the second half of the week on their timings to ensure they could flawlessly deliver the full song without pause or error.

The game was simple: one mic, five girls. When the mic is passed to you, you must sing. If you miss a note, sing the wrong words, or drop the equipment - OUT. Everyone must sing at least once and mic hogging of more than a minute will get you a red warning light flash from the producers. Holding onto the mic more than ten seconds after the red light warning would have you OUT.

By broadcast day, Sunshine group had their song ingrained into their tongues. Even their mic passing had been practised and perfected.

Last week, they had been the last group up, this week they were first. The other girls cheered for them from the small seated section that made up their audience alongside the production crew. It was always so bright and hot on the stages, as though they really were surrounded by sunshine. They took their positions: Wisung on the furthest left side, Sara beside her, AeRi in the centre (of course), then SeoYeon, and finally Sohee. They grinned at each other excitedly, never had SeoYeon felt so prepared going into any challenge thus far. For the first time, she got to be genuinely hopeful.

She didn’t care if they called her an Auntie Idol, as long as she got to be on stage, under the burning light.

The music began, and Wisung hit every word and note perfectly. Sara the same. SeoYeon beamed at the cameras, her pride in her team bursting through. AeRi sang… and sang some more… and then, SeoYeon blinked - AeRi was singing her part. She tried to keep a mild smile up for the cameras but she cut her eyes across at the young girl, silently asking what the hell she was doing. Her hand was out, ready to take her turn, but the mic was still pressed to AeRi’s mouth. She continued to stare at her team mate with confused concern, urging her to glance over.

Finally, she did. AeRi feigned a look of apologetic surprise at her as she apparently noticed, only then, that SeoYeon had been staring at her intensely for half a minute. Only their very lives were on the line, nothing major.

A flash of red light, and the warm metal of the mic was shoved against SeoYeon’s open palm. She fumbled trying to get her grip, slapping both hands around the cylinder and lifting it to her mouth.

With a ragged breath, she missed whatever lyric came next. Not that she would have known the words to Sohee’s part even if she’d had fair warning. And this was definitely not fair.

Double-crossed by AeRi the faerie. As the gunshot rang out, SeoYeon hoped her brain splatter ruined the little snake’s immaculate visuals, even if only for the end of the song.