it's me | produce 101

❄ six

we sat against the glass, waiting for an announcement. we are talking amongst ourselves and i want to pull a joke because they are all nervous but it may work the other way around so i decided against.

alike to them, i am nervous. i knew that my voice cracked and it may affect my level ranking. i sighed before i pushed my hair back.

"sam.", i called samuel who was sitting beside me. he noticed my expression immediately. he smiled at me reassuringly. "don't be nervous, hyung."

"but, my voice cracked and i ran out of breath at some part of the song."

samuel shook his head. "still, hyung, i bet they did not focused on the crack and the shortness of breath, it's normal for idols to experience that.", samuel said before patting me on the shoulder.

i tried to convince myself to think of what samuel said to me, but it did not worked. it made me more nervous.

the sound of the glass door being opened caught our attention and boa walked in, standing behind the little podium. i gulped in nervousness.

"after thinking a lot, we decided your final levels.", she said. in her hands nust our final level results.

"after all the trainees from different levels, who received a final level a, have entered this room," i looked at her, begging not to say what i think she will say, "i will announce your final levels."

i looked down to the ground, my mind almost malfuctioning after i heard it. it sounded evil. the thought of either one of us being announced to be degraded to a lower level infront of the new a level trainees is terrible and it hurts our pride too.

i chewed on my lower lip.

i held on to the necklace that my mother gave me during christmas two years ago and it helped me calm down a bit, enough to help me think rationally.

i kept my head low.

the next few minutes seemed like eternity. and that eternity was broken when a former c level trainee came in. i can recognize him. he is from hf music company, woo jinyoung. boa congratulated him and he was all smiles but we were all in down spirits.

the next trainee came in as if he was being chased by a dog. the sound of the door opening startled me that i looked to its direction. "i'm sorry." it was hyungseob hyung.

i want to be happy for him but in my current position, it seems like i can't.

kim taedong, kim sangbin, kim seongri and im youngmin entered. with the entrance of im youngmin, i seriously that kim donghyun was next and that the brand new music quartet will be complete in a, if daehwi and woojin hyung will not go down, of course.

jongyeon hyung entered as well and he shot me a smile but i just simply waved at him. lee woojin entered and i nodded. he is a good performer and i would not be surprised if he will move up.

daniel hyung was the next one to enter. he clapped when he saw me and seongwoo hyung but we were all silent. he sat down beside woojin.

"right now, i will announce the final level of the current a level trainees." we were grieving when we heard that and the new level a trainees looked at us.

jongyeon looked at me and mouthed, "you'll stay in a." and how i wish what he said will be true.

daehwi, sungwoon hyung and taehyun hyung were called and they expressed their relief in their own way when they got an a. woojin hyung and namhyung hyung also got a.

i chewed on my lower lip and played with my fingers, waiting for my turn.

samuel stood up when he was called. he looked really nervous as he walked up to boa. he took his score card and slowly opened it.

"congratulations. you're level a." samuel sighed in relief and, inside, i was proud of him. the first a level trainee managed to maintain his ranking and that is good for me.

seongwoo hyung was next and i cannot help but get nervous since i am last and i might be the only one who be downgraded to a lower level.

"congratulations.", boa said to seongwoo hyung and it seemed like my world will stop soon. the rest of the trainees inside the room clapped for hyung.

i looked up a bit and i saw boa looking at me before she looked at the paper in her hands. "lastly, i will announce the final level of big hit entertainment trainee, axel lee.", i felt my heart skip a beat. "please come out."

i stood up and walked towards her. "please look inside.", she said while handing me my score card. i almost did not want to open it, in fear that i will see a downgrade level for me.

i sighed, remembering what my sister told me, that i am the best in my own way. with that in mind, i opened the score card and i felt my knees buckle when i saw it. relief came to me through waves.

"congratulations," boa said, "you're a level."

the trainees clapped and i looked at samuel who was grinning at me. daehwi gave me a thumbs up. we were happy, all of us manage to maintain our current levels.

i sat beside samuel with a big smile.

"you are produce 101's proud center group.", boa announced and we all clapped. there are now 17 trainees in a level.

and i can see the stage perfectly at this point. i am honestly ecstatic.

[ to be continued ]

so yeah, axel managed to keep his beloved a level. it was obvious right? i was planning to make him go to b or c but it will disrupt the original flow of the story so i decided against it.

keep yourselves safe because of the bombings happening recently. it happened in my country and i am honestly scared for my parents and my siblings so as much as possible, don't go out too much.

keep yourselves safe everyone!