The moment Doyun stepped onto the stage, the world seemed to change. The training rooms vanished, so did the camp disappear along with the other contestants.
Only the stage remained.
Bright lights shone down from above, and cameras pointed toward them from multiple directions. The mentors sat behind the judging table, Kim Areum sat among them, and beyond them sat dozens of production staff. It was not a large audience compared to what idols usually faced, yet for the boys standing on that stage, it felt enormous.
Doyun inhaled slowly, then exhaled. The music had not started yet. Those few seconds of silence somehow felt longer than the entire week.
Beside him, C10 looked nervous, very nervous. His fingers kept twitching. C05 was rolling his shoulders, C57 was trying to smile, and C90 looked calm on the outside, but Doyun knew he was not. Nobody was.
Namsoon's voice echoed through the speakers. "Contestants. Are you ready?"
