Burning Flame (K.Sn)

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As I stepped out of the gate after all of the boys, it was clear we all were in awe at the place. Everything happened at such a pace that I didn't catch onto anything.

"We will conduct a voting in two hours, to eliminate five applicants."

Everyone looked around at each other in shock, from the announcement of the narrating voice. Two hours and I could be out of here.

I hesitantly placed my bag down along with the rest of the boys, before rushing upstairs to look around along with them. If there wasn't an awkward silence then everyone were absolutely ecstatic about the whole place, and it was understandable. This place truly were amazingly impressive.

As we passed through the kitchen I quickly grabbed a macaron from the food that stood on the table. Surely it was for us, who else would it be for?

I wandered behind the boys as some went into the pantry to look around. In the end we all ended up sitting around the couches and in various chairs, whilst I still carefully munched on my macaron.

"If Lin-ssi has taken of the food, then I can as well," a boy in a white shirt gasped as I raised my eyebrows at him in confusion before he rushed over to grab some food, soon followed by the other boys.

"Sunoo-ya, you can't just go without us!" a boy in a blue shirt yelled after him, before running with him.

In a way I felt bad that I hadn't memorized their names yet, when some of them clearly remembered mine. But I guess I just had to remind myself, that the reason I was easy to remember was because I was the only girl. So, in a way it was alright for me to not be able to remember their names yet. I'm sure it would come at some point.

"Lin-ssi?"the boy, who had been Sunoo, sat down beside me and I glanced over at him with raised eyebrows as I continued to munch on my macaron. Yes I took extremely small bites when I really liked a food, makes it last longer, "cute," he giggled at me.

"Me?" I questioned in shock making him happily nod.

"You said you were 18," he stated and I nodded at him.

"I'm pretty sure that's what my age is," I stated with a small laugh to him.

"I'm 18 too," he widely grinned making me just nod at him, "when's your birthday?"

"August," I replied making him gasp once more.

"I'm a summer child too! I'm born in June!" he exclaimed with a wide grin.

"Really?" I questioned him and he happily nodded at me, "Wait... you're older than me."

"I know..." he hesitantly trailed off with a small frown at me.

"Should I... call you oppa?" I questioned him in confusion, making him let out a small laugh at me.

"No, no. There can't be more than two months between us," he waved it off, "are you... not used to formalities?"

"I just moved here a month ago," I shook my head at him, making his eyes widen at me.

"Oh my... I thought you were Korean, are you not?" he questioned in shock as I hesitantly shook my head at him, "not one bit?"

"Not one bit," I shook my head at him.

"Wah, that's impressive! Your Korean is so good!" he exclaimed making me let out a small laugh at him.

"Thank you," I bowed my head slightly to him, "not a big vocabulary. I... understand more than I speak."

"Applicant Niki move to the voting room."

My head snapped up and I looked around to look for Niki, who had been called down to vote. In the end I ended up having sat with Sunoo for a long time, and just chatted before I had been called down to vote.

I had quickly run up and grabbed another macaron before running down to the voting room to cast out my votes. When picking who I wanted to vote out I had stood with a small frown on my face, whilst munching away on the small delicassy in my hand. In the end I had picked the five boys who had made the smallest impression on me during the entry test.

After I had voted only a few other boys had to go, and once the two hours had run out we were all called down to the lobby. I had immediately walked over to my bag and stood by it, as I silently stood and waited for the elimination to start.

"Now, the five dropouts will be revealed."

As the boys began commenting on how nervewracking it was, I silently stoo and shook my hands to rush my nervousity out that way.

"The first dropout, with 10 votes... Kim Sunoo."

I immediately looked over to the bubbly boy I had talked with earlier. For a short moment the smile on his face was replced by a disappointed one before he just nodded in acceptance and ran a hand through his hair and tried to patch it up with a small smile before he gave up and looked down.

"The second dropout, with 10 votes... Lin."

I watched as my picture appeared up on screen, before reaching over and nudging Sunoo's arm, making him look up at me.

"Ey," I cooed at him, earning a small smile from him as I just continued to smile before looking up at the screen with crossed arms.

"The third dropout, with nine votes... Noh Sungchul."

"The fourth dropout, with 9 votes... Taki."

"The fifth dropout, with six votes... EJ."

"These are the five dropouts. Dropouts please move to the ground."

I let out a small laugh before grabbing my bag and swinging it over my shoulder as I watched all the boys bid their farewells to the ones they had bonded with in the two hours we had had together.

"Lin-ssi," a voice called out and I looked around in confusion, just to see Heeseung rushing over towards me.

"Yes?" I questioned in confusion, just for him to open his arms.

I smiled softly before I agreed to the hug and we engulfed each other. I hadn't even talked to him beforehand, but he must've seen me just watching the others.

"You're gonna come back, I'm sure of it," he stated before patting my back and pulling away.

"I don't know..." I trailed off to him, "even if I do, I'll go again."

"No, no, not a chance," he shook his head at me, "you're too good."

"Thank you," I smiled slightly at him, before I realized the other boys were entering the egg-shaped gate, "I'll go. I'll try not to let you down."

With that I quickly ran up to the other eliminated boys, who all tried to stay cheery as the egg slowly turned around, before their smiles all dropped.

"Cheer up boys! There's only one way to go, and it's up," I reminded them all as the egg stopped turning and skipped out, before realizing neither of them were following me, "are you coming or what?"

"How can you stay so happy noona?" Taki questioned, making me sigh before reaching out and grabbing the wrists of him and Sunoo, before pulling them out with me.

"It's not the end, it's just the beginning," I grinned at them, "now come on!"