Humanity's greatest gift from the Almighty Creator was their superior wisdom, tenacity, and adaptability.
A downcast youth in the morning transformed into a smiling idol-wannabe with a kind demeanor and a bright atmosphere around him when he entered the dining room.
Not long after, he cracked jokes with his friends, acting like nothing disturbing had nearly destroyed his mentality yesterday.
Jun reverted to his previous self, which had adapted quite quickly to his new situation.
Three days later.
The D-Day of Best of Idol's Mission 3 came.
For this mission, the sets used as entrance test venue was reopened to accommodate all 24 contestants of BOI. Both Landers and Inhabitants in proper stage attires gathered, forming two sides. After roaming their gaze around to observe the change in the decor of the huge hall, everyone focused on the 200-inch monitor with awe on their faces.
The director played the encouraging messages left by popular Nova artists like ADAH, KAISER, and even solo singers like Leola. Naturally, the contestants' hearts almost burst from being too moved. Hyeon-ju, in particular, teared up, and his fellow Inhabitants had to huddle around him to hug him.
Soon, the last message from their successful seniors finished playing.
The emcee took over the stage and calmly announced the beginning of the battle.
"Having heard your seniors' encouraging words that are also full of wisdom, I believe all of you have become more determined to reach your one and only goal in this survival show - debut. I can see the fire burning in your eyes everyone. So let us officially begin the long-awaited battles tonight, starting with the vocal group. " laughed emcee Lee.
The actor-host changed his pose and looked at another camera before he smirked playfully, "This song dominated the charts and the award ceremonies six years ago, a pop ballad about a whirlwind romance that starts and ends early. How do you think our courageous Inhabitants would challenge this song that had made a mark in Korean music history as one of the Perfect All-Kills of the Nation's Sweetheart? Without further ado, let us all invite the Greenhouse team - to perform the song 'Seven Days of Love History' by Miss Why!"
Half an hour passed for the two camps to finish their performances and announce the scores. The Greenhouse team performed a Miss Why song while the Barren Land team sang a song from a male balladeer. Predictably, Sujin's team won. The gap was quite significant, so while the Landers were frustrated, they were not too unwilling to accept the outcome.
Before the next team's turn, the two vocal groups were called for a brief interview as the staff prepared the stage for the next performers.
Ten minutes later, the dance teams were sent up next. The battle was nerve-wracking since Kato, Min, and Juwon were great dancers, but the other side had Neo, a dance monster. Neo's teammates were decent, too; one of them was great at krumping, while the two others excelled at street dancing.
"The score now is one-one. A tie between the Landers and the Inhabitants! Yes, congratulations to the Landers for winning the dance face-off!"
The emcee passionately laughed as Neo's teammates cheered like thunder.
"Neo! Neo! Neo! Neo!" Amid the loud applause and shouts, the name called only smiled bashfully. The other Landers began yelling at the other Lander Dance team members shortly.
Another 10 minutes were allotted for interviewing the previous batch of performers.
Sujin approached Kato and the others and patted them on the back. After the interview, the faces of the four Inhabitants were grim, understandably because they lost.
"We're sorry." Juwon apologized on behalf of his team. The others followed suit.
"It's okay. You guys showed a brilliant performance," Jun comforted them.
Seth spoke from behind, "Brother, we're up next. I feel so nervous."
"Try to chant 'Om' in your mind nonstop until you calm down." Xavi chimed in. "It's effective for me."
"Om, om, om, om." The boy understood the instruction wrong and ended up voicing it out. He quite looked silly when he gently slapped his two cheeks.
Jun tapped him on the shoulder repeatedly.
"Inhabitant Rap Team, please come onto the stage now." Emcee Lee smiled at their direction.
Before leading his group mates to the stage, he made them form a circle first and recite their chant. "Boys, what's our number one rule?"
"BE SINCERE!" They answered.
Jun narrowed his eyes, "Again!"
"BE SINCERE!" They yelled again, louder than the first time. He chuckled. It was cringed, and he knew it, so he also encouraged his blushing group mates individually through his glances.
Looks of interest were directed at them from both the judges' and Landers' sides.
When the Inhabitant Rap Team stood on the stage, Jun signaled them with his hand, and then everyone bowed simultaneously. They introduced themselves properly as a team before moving on to their introduction. The previous groups had done this before, so this move by them was not truly unique, yet they still did it in hopes that it would leave an impression.
Once done with pleasantries with the mentors, the rap team went to their positions wearing white dress shirts, dark pants, and simple metal accessories. Lights flickered before they dimmed just enough to illuminate the stage and the white smoke effect that slowly rose to knee level.
The flute and violin instrumental began, turning the venue into a dreamy scene from a gothic fantasy.
Xavi and Jun stood back to back at the center of the slowly rotating disk in the middle of the stage. A few paces behind them was a flight of stairs. Daeho sat at the base with head bowed while Seth could be seen with a slight smile that seemed to be reminiscing.
When the violin temporarily stopped, Xavi raised his head and faced the audience with a mellow look. His voice echoed softly as he delivered the first lines.
"I remember that day when I opened up about my dreams.
My grandma looked me in the eyes with encouragement and joy.
She probably finds peace at the thought that, at last,
The immature me has found a passion to pursue in this life.
It had taken me courage and stubbornness to take the first steps.
And she also did not hesitate to take those steps for me..."
The foreign boy gripped the microphone with both hands and used his story as the opening. Afterward, the lyrics talked about three more others.
Sujin mentioned that his main supporter was his music teacher, older brother, who taught him how to sing. Min was also like Xavi, whose grandparents pushed him to audition out of blind trust in his abilities and face. Hyeon-ju auditioned with his friends, and although those classmates did not make it, they were very supportive of him and regularly sent cheering messages.
When Xavi began to summarize that these were their experiences before they strived to be idols, Jun's backing vocals softly rang at the same time.