episode three ...

after a moment of the screen
being completely black a tiny animated
envelope appears in the middle of it.
the envelope starts growing and, once it's
gotten to the point of being just a few
centimeters wide it opens.

the words "EPISODE THREE" jump out of
the, now opened, envelope and shortly after
it fades away, and in its place is now
the very same stage we left behind when
the last episode ended.

on the stage is, obviously, our two
hosts; iu and mark!

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
hello dearest admirers, and welcome to episode three!

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
I really hope you're having a great evening, day or morning, and if not, I hope this episode can get you feeling better! 

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
ah, you've probably waited for this episode for what feels like ages.. anxious to know where your favourite lovers ended up... and you shall wait no longer because...

the screen, which previously had been
more focused on iu, properly
showed mark standing next to her.

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
the results are in!

it turned to show the seating area
which was empty and re-ordered
into the so-called "version 1",  aka
the rows of solo seats made for rankings!

a moment later, it turned back around to
show the stage, it showed the
fourty-two participants standing
lined up behind the two hosts on stage.

suddenly, it focused on the three yg trainees.

◤ MINSU ⭑ YG ◢
i'm so anxious...

◤ BLAISE ⭑ YG ◢
don't worry Minnie, you will most definitely rank high!

◤ MINSU ⭑ YG ◢
but what if I don't? I really don't want people to think I'm bad...

◤ MAX ⭑ YG ◢
hey, no frowny faces! listen to hyung, they're right!

◤ MINSU ⭑ YG ◢
well... I'm still anxious! like what if I rank really high and then people are disappointed? or rank really low and people think I'm bad and I'm eliminated?

◤ BLAISE ⭑ YG ◢
Minnie...

it then switched to showing the
woollim and fantiago trainees,
who were standing next to each other.

◤ HYUNWOO ⭑ WOOLLIM ◢
I bet both of us are gonna' end up in the love zone!

◤ DAEHO ⭑ FANTAGIO ◢
me and you? or were you talking to Changmin hyung?

◤ HYUNWOO ⭑ WOOLLIM ◢
me and you, of course! look, I love Changmin but you're my new found best friend, and I desperately want to just... not be separated!

◤ DAEHO ⭑ FANTAGIO ◢
same... me and you forever, hyung!

it then switched over to
showing the two hosts.

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
you guys will finally get to know your ranks! yay!

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
I hope you haven't been too anxious waiting for these results~!

the trainees sighed, of
course they'd been anxious!

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
alright, so, we're going to start announcing your ranks in just a bit, stay put, kay?

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
we're starting with the love zone, then we'll announce the top 6 and also rank 7, and we'll finish with the friend zone! when your name and rank is called, you go find the seat in the pyramid with that number, okay? good!

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
as mentioned like... a thousand times already, nobody is going to get eliminated this time around, so you really don't have to be that worried.

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
exactly! after you've gotten your ranks, you are going to go get to see the actual dorms for the first time. you can expect to maybe move around, at least a little, during your time on here, so hopefully you'll get to enjoy all three areas and what they have to offer! or at least two of them!

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
should we start announcing then?

i'm going to skip around a bit in the rank announcements, because writing out 42 ranks is... boring. the next chapter after this is going to be all the ranks, so dont worry ;)

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
Mark ssi, you can go first with... rank eight!

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
rank eight? okay!

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
the first lover to take their seat is ...

BLAISE CHO SEJIN
( yg )
RANK 8 , love zone

◤ BLAISE ⭑ LOVE ZONE│#8◢
what did I do to rank so high..?

• • •

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
at rank ten we have no other than ...

MATEO SEO
( fantagio )
RANK 10 , love zone

◤ MATEO ⭑ LOVE ZONE│#10 ◢
oh, wow! how did I rank so high?

◤ JAEHO ⭑ FANTAGIO│#?? ◢
because you're good, obviously!

• • •

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
oh, my turn!

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
at rank 13, we have ...

CHOI CHANGMIN
( woollim )
RANK 13 , love zone

◤ CHANGMIN ⭑ LOVE ZONE│#13 ◢
really? woah..

◤ HYUNWOO ⭑ WOOLLIM│#?? ◢
I knew it! well done hyung!

• • •

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
next up is rank nineteen, and the one to take this seat is ...

CHU MINSU
( yg )
RANK 19 , love zone

◤ MINSU ⭑ LOVE ZONE│#19 ◢
oh... oh my god! thank you!

◤ MAX ⭑ YG│#?? ◢
see? you didnt have to be so anxious!

◤ MINSU ⭑ LOVE ZONE│#19 ◢ looking a bit sheepish
yeah, okay, I guess!

◤ MAX ⭑ YG│#?? ◢
now go join Blaise hyung! see you soon!~

• • •

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
with the love zone announced... we're moving on to the top 6!

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
so, starting with rank 6, and with that rank 7... could Seo Sungchan from SM Entertainment and Keum Woosung from HYBE Labels please step forward.

woosung, who had been next to
KQ's seojun shuffles through the
twenty or so remaining trainees and
makes his way over to the front.

at the same time sungchan, who
was standing alone a few feet
away from the others, also found
a way to the front and stood
next to woosung.

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
one of you ranked 6th, and will be in the top 6, the other ranked 7th and will be the last lover in the love zone.

they nodded.

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
our first top 6 lover is ... 

SEO SUNGCHAN
( sm )
RANK 6 , top 6

the boy, who had prepared himself
for being ranked seventh, looked
at iu with confusion as if to say
"what? are you sure you read right?"

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
which means that HYBE's Keum Woosung ranked seventh! congratulations!

KEUM WOOSUNG
( hybe )
RANK 7 , love zone

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
you two can go find your seats now!

the two, with woosung cheering for
sungchan as he carefully dragged the
younger along, made their way to the
upper rows of the seating area.

the focus then, once again, returns to the stage.

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
and following SM's Sungchan to the top 6 dorms, we have...

ZEB KIM
( the l1ve )
RANK 5 , top 6

after a few seconds of silence, the
camera focused on zeb and replayed
the moment his name had been called.

zeb was leaning on nyx ji, his labelmate,
and was lazily looking around the room.
upon hearing his name, his eyebrows
lifted and his eyes noticebly widened.

◤ ZEB ⭑ TOP 6│#5 ◢
what?

nyx turned to face him, whispered
something, and attempted to shoo
the younger forward. but instead
of separating from the side-hug the
labelmates had going on zeb took
nyx with him to the front of the stage.

◤ ZEB ⭑ TOP 6│#5 ◢
I'm waiting for you up there, okay?

◤ NYX ⭑ THE LIVE│#?? ◢
mhm.

as zeb made his way to his seat,
the focus was once again back
to the hosts.

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
wah, cute!

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
well then, moving on!

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
ranking 4th we have the lovely ...

HAK SEUNGJUN
( independent )
RANK 4 , top 6

◤ SEUNGJUN ⭑ TOP 6│#4 ◢
that's like... really high... wow...

as seungjun makes their way up
to the fourth seat, the remaining
twenty-something trainees are shown.
every single one of them either
looks extremely anxious,
extremely excited, 
or like they're about to fall asleep.

but they all have one thing
in common; they're standing up.

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
oh my god, wait, pause, do you guys not have any chairs? did they not give you chairs?

◤ LUCAS ⭑ STARSHIP│#?? ◢
uh... no? were we supposed to get chairs?

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
yes! dude, oh my god!

and like that, mark disappears
for a few seconds and returns with
a group of staff; each person
carrying folding chairs for the lovers.

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
there we go, much better!

◤ HYUK ⭑ SM│#?? ◢
thank you sunbaenim!

• • •

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
let's continue!

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
ranking third, and the one of you who'll have to stand right back up, is...

KYUNG SEOJUN
( kq )
RANK 3 , top 6

the camera focuses on seojun,
who is obliviously cheering for the
person who'd ranked 3rd, only to
slowly realise that... he... was
the one who ranked 3rd.

he slowly gets up and, with wide eyes,
starts walking toward the seating
area while mumbling "thank you"-s
to whoever could hear him.

as he does this, the camera
instead shows keum woosung.
upon hearing his friend's name being
called, he immediately stands up
and starts celebrating like an insane
person for kyung seojun and his ranking.

when seojun walked past his seat,
he stopped and pulled the taller in
for a hug, and as the duo hugged
the camera returned to focus on the
stage and the hosts.

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
you're gonna make me cry!

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
please dont, if you cry then we're all going to start crying..

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
Mark ssi!

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
what? I'm just being real noona!

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
soft sigh, yeah, you are.

iu then claps her hands.

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
well! we have only two more spots in the top 6... 

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
... so let's announce the lover that ranked second!

NYX JI
( the l1ve )
RANK 2 , top 6

before nyx has had the time to
properly react, there is a screetch
coming from the seating area.

◤ ZEB ⭑ TOP 6│#5 ◢
HYUNG! HYUNG! HYUNG!

◤ ZEB ⭑ TOP 6│#5 ◢
MY HYUNG DID IT! SECOND PLACE!

zeb seemingly has no shame
left in his body, and has stood up
by his seat. after a few seconds, the
camera switched back to show nyx.

hy was shaking hys head, seemingly
let out a chuckle, before rolling hys eyes
at the younger. with a small smile on
hys face, nyx bowed toward the hosts
and started making hys way up to hys seat.

as nyx sat down zeb, who was still
standing up, turned to face hym.

◤ ZEB ⭑ TOP 6│#5 ◢
HYUNG!!

◤ NYX ⭑ TOP 6│#2 ◢ loving tone
can you be quiet for just a second, please?

◤ ZEB ⭑ TOP 6│#5 ◢
but hyung! you placed second! second!! hyung!

◤ NYX ⭑ TOP 6│#2 ◢ loving tone
but you don't need to be so fucking loud, do you?

◤ ZEB ⭑ TOP 6│#5 ◢
yeah yeah... sorry~

◤ NYX ⭑ TOP 6│#2 ◢
hey, what have I said about apologising?

zeb nods, opens his mouth (to say sorry)
and closes it again before sitting back down.

◤ NYX ⭑ TOP 6│#2 ◢
mm, good!

the camera then goes back to show the stage again.

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
ah, and we have come to the final spot in the top 6!

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
and remember, after this we're going through the rest of the rankings, and then you'll get to go explore your dorms and properly unwind! so just hang in there guys!

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
our very first number one, welcome up ... !

MOON YUNHO
( independent )
RANK 1 , top 6

yunho, who had been sitting to the
side of the side and had been
one of the hyper-excited trainees,
shot up from his chair.

◤ YUNHO ⭑ TOP 6│#1 ◢
what?! are you for real? I.. I actually ranked first?!

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
very 'for real', yes!

◤ YUNHO ⭑ TOP 6│#1 ◢
oh my god...!

if this reaction was because of
ranking first, or because iu had
directly spoken to him, or maybe
both, is unclear. but either way,
he covers his mouth with his hands
and makes some excited squealing
noises as he makes his way
to the top row and his seat.

◤ YUNHO ⭑ TOP 6│#1 ◢
thank you so much!

• • • 

suddenly, a bunch of hearts
bounce over the screen, and once
they bounce away a text, LOVERS CHAT,
takes up most of the screen. after a
few seconds it becomes smaller and
moves up to the top of the screen.

◤ JAMIE ⭑ LOVE ZONE│#21 ◢
you know, it really doesn't make sense to me!

◤ JAMIE ⭑ LOVE ZONE│#21 ◢
i just can't believe that many people would vote for him?

◤ JAMIE ⭑ LOVE ZONE│#21 ◢
like why would— he's literally— oh my god.

◤ JAMIE ⭑ LOVE ZONE│#21 ◢
he is super complicated and super rude, and he's not even that good, and he still gets like, what, pity votes? and that many pity votes too? like what?

◤ STAFF ◢
and who are you talking about exactly?

◤ JAMIE ⭑ LOVE ZONE│#21 ◢
oh, right, sorry. uh, just like... oh my god, I sounded so rude just now too, oh god... sorry!

◤ JAMIE ⭑ LOVE ZONE│#21 ◢
I was, uh, talking about the fact that the, uh, Jo Sanghoon guy ranked so high! like.. 25th is rather high and he is... honestly an asshole from the very few interactions ive had with him.. and just.. yeah, sorry. I sounded so rude...

• • •

once again, hearts cover the screen
and leave to reveal the text "LOVERS CHAT".

◤ STAFF ◢
what do you think about your rank?

◤ WOONG ⭑ FRIEND ZONE│#32 ◢
what do you mean? 

◤ STAFF ◢
your rank, what do you think about it?

◤ WOONG ⭑ FRIEND ZONE│#32 ◢
uhm... well, not much? I'm just happy to be here!

◤ WOONG ⭑ FRIEND ZONE│#32 ◢
wait, should I be upset over it? that I ranked thirty-second?

◤ WOONG ⭑ FRIEND ZONE│#32 ◢
honestly like... why would I be upset? I'm still on the show and I'm having a good time, so... why...

◤ WOONG ⭑ FRIEND ZONE│#32 ◢
I'm so confused...

• • •

iu and mark are in focus again,
the host duo standing alone
on the stage and looking out over
the fourty-two ranked trainees.

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
that was pretty much everything for today, woah! everything left is just getting to your dorms!

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
all of your bags and the things you came here with are lined up along that wall over there, marked with your name of course, and... that's the last piece of information we have for you today, wow!

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
now get some rest you guys! 

the room is silent, and still, as
the trainees just look out over
the stage and toward the
wall mark had previously pointed to.

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
what are you waiting for? go!

◤ MARK ⭑ host ◢
if you just go down from the pyramid-thingie you can go explore your dorms!

◤ IU ⭑ host ◢
and you should be able to easily find the dorms on your own as long as you follow the arrows, so don't worry about that!

[ the arrows..? ]

▬ 💌 ▬

maybe a bit messy? im trying to write as much as possible and as i said earlier i might sort of shorten my writing style for some chapters to be able to keep this fic alive! hopefully ill manage to keep updating steadily if i try to focus more on just getting things out and not things being like 100% perfect and everything.

the next time i do this i might do more parts and announce more ranks with the gifs and everything cause its kinda cute!

ALSO, i imagine the three dots as like.. the viewer skips forward or smth. like "WHO GIVES A FUCK ABOUT THE RANKINGS!!!" or something lol, also the coming chapters are hopefully going to make the ending of this chapter make more sense?

if you want,,, send in some ideas for what we can call the top 6 dorms! because writing out top 6 dorms is kinda boring when we have the "love zone" and "friend zone". it doesnt have to be love themed or anything, just something a bit nicer than "top 6 dorms." yk?

https://forms.gle/ASPvMmzaiKWeh9S19