"What exactly do we have to do to gather these votes?" I ask.
"Good question." Dae-Hong leans forward to answer and everyone turns their attention his way. "Eliminations begins right away, which means every two weeks after your live performance a group will be kicked off the show. For the first four months of the show all contestants will be performing on stage as a group, but after those months have passed the last twenty contestants to remain on in the show will perform on stage individually. Eliminations will then reduce to two individuals a week with the lowest votes on stage, getting kicked off the show."
"Are we 7 the only ones in the show from our school?"
"No, 3 more members are joining you guys but due to personal reasons the remaining three can't be here today."
"Do we know them?"
"Of course. Now the major challenge for you guys during the show is to acquire as many votes as you can and to hope your group never gets kicked off the stage, a list of songs will be given to everyone to choose from and each group can pick what they want to perform. Only when there are just 4 trainees left in the show for the semi-finale, will an original song written by you or anyone else be allowed to be performed."
"How long will the competition last?"
"After some arguments, it's been decided that the competition will begin in two months."
When he says this, he glances at Kevin before turning back to us and I glance at Kevin automatically. He gives me a meaningful stare and I understood immediately what it meant.
He'd prolonged the time for me to get everything in order before the competition begins.
"The competition is going to last for seven months and during that time all of you are going to be situated in a house organized by the agency just for the show. The show will commence here in Seoul and each performance on stage will happen on live TV at Seoul's Arena, though you guys are going to hold your practice sessions at a private studio built for the show by Starlight Agency."
"But what about school?"
"We've made arrangements with each school and they've decided to be lenient. Because of how much attention has arisen with the show each contestant might have troubles within the school environment, or more specifically you guys could cause more trouble than it's worth it by making things inconvenient for other students. To ensure there wouldn't be any terrible incident, assigned teachers will be brought to the house to become your tutors as you guys will be homeschooled."
"So, that means the competition will be over by November?"
"More or less, yes."
"Are our votes going to be broadcast on the internet too?" The 5'ft4 brunette seated next to the girl with ebony coloured hair asks with a bit of an attitude and immediately, I knew who was going to be the drama queen of the show.
"Yes, all votes will be broadcast online. Each rating of your votes will be shown on the show's website so in that way, you and everyone can keep track of your performance."
"Lovely, this competition is sounding more and more interesting by the minute."
"So, do we need to prepare anything for the show?" Jayden asks, and Dae-Hong shakes his head.
"No, you only need to bring a few personal items. Everything else will be prepared for you."
"Is that all, I mean have we covered everything because I need to leave soon?" Bora asks, but Kevin shakes his head.
"There's something else, during our wait for these two months you guys will be scheduled with interviews, press conference releases, and photoshoots for the show. Oh, and just for a heads up, 2 lucky individuals from each school will be allowed to become the faces of the show alongside Cameron, Yu Xiao, and Layla."
"Who will it be?" Byung-Ho asks in excitement.
"It's going to be…" Everyone leans forward in anticipation as Kevin teases them with suspense, biting down on my lower lip I worry and wait for the moment he'll turn to me and announce my name.
But instead of doing that, he smiles coyly and shrugs. "You guys will just have to wait until it's announced."
Everyone groans in disappointment and slump back in their seat before Dae-Hong adds with an amused smile.
"In two weeks, the show is going to have its first press conference so be mentally prepared. Every candidate picked will be appearing for the press conference. And after that, Starlight Agency will host a small after-party so participants can officially meet the show's producers, sponsors, investors, production crew, stylists, mentors, and of course judges. For now, this is all we have to say but be assured that we will contact you guys for further information."