The Idol: A TWICE Story

E18: Breakthrough

A/N: Another two weeks means another IDOL episode!

Min-sik's final step rang out across the hall an entire half second before the others. The four boys stood onstage, dripping with sweat and staring back at the three judges below. None of them were clapping.

Miss Son had a confused look on her face, like she didn't know what she had just watched. Wu had a gleeful look on his face, like he didn't know what he had just watched but he had enjoyed the chaotic nature of it. Mina, meanwhile, looked like she was imaging violent ways to relieve Min-sik's head from his body.

Wu was the first one who spoke. "Well, that was... interesting."

"What have you four been doing all this time?" Miss Son asked.

Kyung-soo stepped up. "We spent the first week and a bit coming up with choreo. Some of us," he amended, glaring at Min-sik. "And then we drilled practice."

"So, what..." Miss Son sighed. "What happened?"

Kyung-soo's face didn't change. "I don't know what you mean."

"Were you the group that practiced with the metronome?" Wu asked.

Kyung-soo nodded.

Miss Son let out an exaggerated noise of recognition. "Okay. I see what's going on here."

Mina had been scribbling at her scoring sheet the entire time. She clicked her pen, and the noise ran out ominously across the hall. "Han Min-sik," she started.

Min-sik tensed up. He thought he had done his best, all things considered. He had done his best to follow the advice he had received over the weekend—he had even put in some extra hours on his own to hone in the timing.

"Yes?" Min-sik replied nervously.

"You were noticeably different from the others," said Mina. "Why?"

"Well..." Min-sik felt like he was being forced to give a group presentation on the spot. "I was kind of—well, I found the metronome a little distracting. I put in some practice on my own time, with a normal version of the song."

"Why?" Mina reiterated. "You knew that dialing in the timing would make you more accurate but less synchronized."

"I thought it was better to do something than nothing," said Min-sik. "I felt kind of crazy practicing with the metronome. I thought that if I dialed in my own timing, it would prove to you all that I care enough to fix it, even if some people in my group don't."