~ a week later ~

the trainees didn't get much sleep because they were all nervous. today was the big day. the post-evaluation day, the day that hyungwon announces who debuts.

someone, in particular, was very nervous, shownu; he was afraid that if they didn't debut, he would've let all of his teammates down. this would also be the last time that they would see each other before being put into different trainee groups.

kihyun was the first one up and woke the others as well. he cooked a small breakfast for them to eat and they all got ready quickly. since the evaluation was going to be in the evening, the five of them headed to the company to do last-minute practices.

~ time skips ~

the two groups entered the warehouse and saw that the inside looked different. there were fancy lights, a big crowd of fans that were in the audience, and other things that couldn't compare to the usual warehouse.

seeing and hearing all of the fans cheer for their group and they individually put a lot of pressure onto the boys. now performing for a real crowd made them more nervous than before.

kihyun, on the other hand, wasn't so bothered about the fans because he loved the attention. what he was nervous about was y/n, who promised them that she was going to be there to watch them perform.

they all walked onto the stage quickly, waiting for hyungwon to say something into the microphone.

"hello, trainees. welcome to the post-evaluation, the day where we find out who debuts." hyungwon started. "treat this as if it's a regular evaluation, so you don't feel nervous. however, please do your best, since it is your last one."

"and as always, we'll have group a perform first. group a, do you have anything to say to your fellow trainees?"

the leader, kwangji, grabbed the microphone from one of the people backstage. "group b. shownu, minhyuk, kihyun, jooheon, and changkyun. i hope nothing but good luck in this, and please do well!"

the fans cheered, going crazy over his short speech.

"group b. do you have anything to say back to group a?" hyungwon asked. shownu took another microphone from the backstage crew.

"thank you for the kind words, and we don't wish anything but the best for you all too." shownu replied, proud of what he said. fans cheered again, making him red.

"okay. now that we got that out of the way, group a shall start performing now." hyungwon said, putting his microphone down.

the two groups put their arms in the middle for a cheer.

"one, two, three, fighting!" they shouted, lifting their arms from the circle. fans loudly cheered at the interaction, and group b quickly walked off backstage. group a started to walk to their position, being nervous about how well they would do.

their number started to play, and the trainees began to sing their own song.

"i can't believe we're after this." jooheon said, nervously shaking his leg.

"relax, we'll just do it how we practiced." shownu tried to calm him down. he, too, was nervous, especially about the result; as a leader, he felt a lot of emotions.

this being their last evaluation was nerve-racking for them, since it's going on the internet too. the stress and anxiousness from the past ones couldn't compete with what they were feeling now.

"group b, stand by!" the backstage crew yelled out to them. the trainees stood up from their seats and followed a crew member.

"i feel like peeing myself." minhyuk complained, making the others laugh.

"shut up, we have to be serious now." shownu scolded.

"i hope she's here." kihyun whispered, enough for the others to hear him. "if not, this defeats the whole purpose of singing this."

"she promised she'll be here. she probably came late." shownu reassured kihyun. "it's okay, just stay calm."

after group a's song finished, group b quickly walked out to the stage. fans who biased the group cheered loudly in the crowd. the trainees then jogged to their positions, ready to give this their everything.