Notes to my Heart | TAEIL

Chapter 12

"That was good." Taeil told his group as they sat in the audience area. They had just finished their rehearsal for their performance later that night, the first live performance of the show.

Taeil could tell that the members were all nervous, as the voting had begun last night. They could already see the real-time results too, and he was sure the lower ranking competitors were getting nervous.

"Watch out for your spacing, as it's clear that some of you are more spaced out than others. Take a deep breath, not into the microphone though, to calm yourself down." Taeil was glad that his additional comment made a few of them chuckle.

"It's okay to be nervous, we're all nervous the first time we perform. Don't think about the voting and just enjoy yourself on stage so you have no regrets." Taeil continued. "Some of us are obviously better known that others, so it's important that you show you're best on this stage to show that you deserve to be here and people should vote for you."

The group nodded and Taeil gave them all a big smile.

"I believe in you all. You can do it. Hwaiting!"

...

Iseul had to admit, Taeil's words had helped her a lot.

She was sitting backstage, checking the results of the voting. 65.

Iseul bit her lip. She was currently at risk of being eliminated and that worried her. It was an improvement from last night though, where she was 87th.

Don't worry, tonight's performance will help, Iseul thought as she locked her phone, looking around the room.

She was slightly jealous of Jeno and Haechan, who had steady rankings. Jeno was currently in first place, which wasn't a surprise at all, especially since he ranked first for the auditions. Haechan wasn't far behind though, sitting at third place. Being from such a large company definitely had it's advantages.

Iseul was surprised when the couch sank and she turned her head to see Taeil there. "You seem really nervous."

"I am." Iseul admitted to her mentor. "This will be my first time performing on a stage like this."

"But you've performed before, haven't you? In high school or busking?" Taeil asked. Iseul nodded.

She watched as Taeil leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked at Iseul. "It's not that different. In fact, it might be easier since there's bright lights that makes it hard to see the audience."

"Really?" Taeil nodded his head.

"I know the ranking might concern you." Taeil said, motioning to the phone in her hands. "But I gave you such a big part of the song for a reason. I think you have a lot of potential, Iseul."

Iseul couldn't help but smile at Taeil's compliment. "Thank you."

"Anyways." Taeil said, passing her his phone and the earbuds that were connected to his phone. "I actually wanted to show you this. Listen to it while I go talk to the others."

Iseul stared at the device that was now in her hands as Taeil left to go talk to one of the other members of his team. It was the recording of their cover.

Iseul had honestly forgotten about it as she had been focusing on their performance cover instead.

She glanced around the room to see if anyone had noticed that Taeil had literally given her his phone but it seemed like everyone was too focused on getting ready for the performance so she put the earphones in, beginning to play the song.