The battle between the two Barren Land groups obviously looked purposely scheduled first to keep the audience hooked until the end. However, the Landers said nothing since they also thought that the staff had made a reasonable decision.
Jun forced out the negative thoughts in his mind and concentrated on the performance that had begun—an original dance-pop love song created by a Nova songwriter. Hanada stood in the middle of the formation as the center.
He knew the song as well, but even though he did not think the song itself was bad, the poor skills of the two performers dragged the quality of the performance. Were they too affected by the live audience watching them?
"Surprisingly, Hanada is hard-carrying," commented Xavi.
To which Jun agreed, "Right."
Hanada had quite the personality issue, but at least this person was a decent performer and possessed charms that could help him become a good center. He could also execute perfectly what he had practiced, meaning he was not the type to get shaken by scrutinizing gazes. The two others who made it to the Greenhouse before were also decent.
Sadly, it was not enough to save his team.
'When some members commit mistakes on stage, perhaps the best thing one can do to fix the situation is to distract the audience from them by taking away all attention. However, it was hard to do it impromptu without a killer move or S-tier charm.'
In Jun's opinion, Hanada did not have the ability to make people's eyes stay on him when he was not in the middle.
Jun waited for the next performers. A smile automatically showed on his lips when he saw Neo taking the center spot.
"Bright concept and Neo? Will it go well?" Juwon looked curious yet skeptical.
The boy in question accidentally looked in their direction, so Jun took the chance to give Neo an encouraging smile. Afterward, he shrugged at Juwon. "Maybe? When he entered the room, I saw Jinho coaching him, and he responded with a thumbs-up."
"Ooh, I see," Juwon glanced at the boy dubbed as the best dancer in BOI, then at the oldest BOI contestant. "Glad to see somebody's looking after him there. I was worried because he is too young."
"I sometimes forget that Neo is very young because he usually looks so serious. Plus, he's so tall," said Xavi.
The Inhabitants fell silent and became focused when the music reverberated.
In the set, the audience watching them, especially Neo's fans, screamed and cheered like crazy. It was like the number of people below the platform was not three hundred but a thousand.
"Hey, look at me, I'm the cutest human on Earth!"
Three seconds into the performance, the others watching in the lobby descended into silence, wondering if they had heard correctly. Jun exaggeratedly rubbed his eyes to check if the boy he knew was really the one singing those lines at the center.
"...What did our Barren Lander friends do to Neo?"
After exchanging glances with each other, Jun's team all burst into laughter and then cheered loudly.
Neo switched from a serious expression to an extremely goofy smile befitting his age, which instantly drove away the dead atmosphere in the place. It was an effect achieved by pulling a complete 180 from the previous impression people had of Neo.
"When you see me, I bet you want to keep me
By your side, oh-oh."
The boy started dancing zumba-like steps, and Jun was amazed since the boy made it look so fun, easy, and energetic despite the complicated footwork. Neo also appeared to embody the lyrics. The song's uptempo arrangement and vibrant beats helped make it sound like a very refreshing summer song, the kind one would want to listen to feel happy.
"Good lord, Neo!" Kato could not help but yell and stand up, clapping.
Honestly, like the other team, some members were struggling to keep up with the choreo or could not sing stably while dancing. However, the difference was that people barely noticed those who messed up because of Neo. The boy danced so beautifully that everyone could not help but keep their eyes on him and watch him dance. His expression improved a lot as well.
Apparently, the extra training Jinho enforced on the whole team worked. The youngest contestant on their team looked like he was having a blast with his youthful grin. The other members also did great in matching their center's exploding energy.
"They won." Even before the performance ended, all the Inhabitants staying in the main hall believed that a winner had already been chosen.
Their guess was right. Hanada's team had to force a smile when they congratulated the opposing group. Neo's group won without suspense, and the commentaries they received from the judges were mostly positive.
"Finally, it's the Inhabitants' turn," an audience member seemed to have regained her energy and happily waved her banner, which had Juwon's face on it. "Whoooa!"
It was sad, but the majority of those who joined the live audience today were here to see their favorite picks. As the emcee announced the next group of performers, the shouts and shrieks reached an all-time high.
Daeho subconsciously softly voiced out after briefly turning off his mic, "Wow. That's an awesome scream, it could probably shatter a glass pane or burst a pair of innocent eardrums."
"They are excited for us." Hyeon-ju clutched his chest, looking so moved.
Maybe the ranking played a part in it, but Jun's team automatically became the last one to perform as Sujin's team was called first.
But although, they were rivals this time, this fact did not stop Jun's team from cheering them on and encouraging them to do their best.
Three minutes later, Juwon laughed and stared at Sujin who claimed the center position. He gently elbowed Jun. "Hey, they slayed so hard. Do you regret telling them to do their best?"
Sujin fully demonstrated why the other Inhabitants respected him a lot. The guy got the main vocalist's part, yet he seemed more like a center than their chosen center. He was truly impressive and deserved the high praises from the judges.
Still, Jun stood up, stretched his arms, and then replied, "Why would I? We are going to beat them anyway. I am confident about it."
That time, the smiling Jun looked so arrogant and full of himself, which set the mood for the song that they were about to perform.
"Okay, let us beat them." Xavi started laughing.
They heard Daeho say, "Wow, you guys can really act."
"Team 'So Far Away', please standby."
The emcee's voice prompted Seong-Hun, Jun, and their teammates to go to where the live audience was. They stayed in the small dark room behind the black curtain as they awaited the go-signal to step on stage...