CHAPTER TWELVE
Seven in the morning. We wake up.
The I-LANDers gathered and went to the main entrance of the place. It was quiet and no one said a word. But us girls always had to smile and wave in front of the camera. Of course, I didn’t since I’m not exactly a smiler.
We took our seats and waited for the voice to begin speaking.
“We will now select those that are going to GROUND.” the voice said in an ominous tone.
I shriveled up.
I hope it’s not any of us, I thought.
These were the names of the contestants that will be going to GROUND for the first part of the show:
1. Ni-Ki (72)
2. Daniel (67)
3. Jay (59)
4. Nicholas (69)
5. Jake (47)
6. Young-bin (43)
Once I heard Jake’s name, I immediately shot my head up and my eyes welled up with tears. Eventually, Jake predicted he was going to be one of the six people who were going to ground. The eighteen of us were in shock.
The portal opened and I stood up.
“Let me go to GROUND!” I announced, “I would give any single thing for my best friend to become an idol. But please do anything else but to send him to GROUND. So…if it’s alright with you…let me, Y/N L/N, take his place. Please.”
There was no answer, and I stepped forward anyway, with the rest of the five dropouts. I had to let the girls cry out for me. But I couldn’t bear it any longer. I had to say goodbye.
I went through the tunnel of woe. It was not a pretty sight to see. Fortunately, at least I thought of Jake debuting and not me. But now I see no future in getting to debut now.
Meanwhile, I saw the GROUNDers looking at me in shock. They knew I took Jake’s place into getting the part in GROUND. But I had to do it…so that Jake’s dream could come true.
“Y/N,” said Sunoo, “What are you doing here?”
“She took Jake’s place,” said Young-bin, “Now her girl groups and Jake himself are upset because she left.”
“But she shouldn’t have,” said Se-on, “She needs to be up there, she is too good to be down here.”
“And Jake is too good to be down here, too!” I shouted, “I despise the fact that there is a high and low here in this place, but I don’t agree with it! If you were all worthy enough, most of you could have snuck out of this place and gone up to I-LAND, making the judges give you a second chance!”
There was a moment of silence. And then the voice of I-LAND spoke again.
“We will select those that will be going to I-LAND. Taeyong, Jae-beom, Se-on, Young-bin, Sunoo…and Y/N.”
I tilted my head as he said my name.
For a few seconds I have been down here and they are expecting me to go back to I-LAND? What is up with this show?
Jake then entered and came straight to me. I turned away as my eyes welled up with tears.
“Y/N,” he said, softly, “Look at me.”
I looked at him with tears streaming down my face. I could tell he wanted to see me one last time before he was officially a GROUNDer. He then gently held my chin in place.
“It was very kind of you to take my place. But the fact is, you are too good to be down here. I want you to live your life in I-LAND. Don’t worry. In the next part, I’ll be sure to come back up there. And we can finish it together, okay?” he said as he pulled me in his arms.
“Promise me?”I asked, tearfully.
“I promise you.” Jake said, rubbing my back and my head.
“But I don’t want to leave you!” I cried.
“I know,” Jake cooed, “But I want you to be happy for me, for trying my best. I’ll improve eventually. Right now, it’s your time to shine. My little star.”
I cupped Jake’s face and slowly walked away. But I ran back to him to hug him one final time. He hugged me tightly and spun me around.
“I’ll miss you…” he whispered.
He put me down and I walked away, sniffling from the sadness I felt.
.
.
.
Two days went by, and I was still depressed. I ate, but I did not sleep. It was hard without Jake by my side. Although, I hadn’t seen much of him. I assumed he was practicing the violin all of this time.
Sunoo and Jungwon entered the room and found me lying in bed, with tears still in my eyes.
“She misses him,” said Sunoo.
“I saw the whole love scene with them. I nearly cried and it broke my heart.” said Jungwon.
“I think she has feelings for him..” Sunoo said with a sweet tone.
I then turned around, not even facing the two boys in my room. Hinata, Lara, and Livia entered the room and saw how depressed I was.
“She’s still depressed?” Lara asked.
“Unfortunately,” said Sunoo, “She’s been like this ever since Jake went to ground. And then, she wouldn’t get out of bed.”
“Poor thing,” said Hinata, “I wonder if she misses him?”
“She really looks like she does.” Livia added, “But to be honest, I haven’t seen her like this after we were eliminated at Dream Life Entertainment and the evaluation.”
It was true…usually I would never feel that way in my life. But it was my best friend that has left me all alone. I missed him to bits. I couldn’t help but feel so sad. And it wasn’t a good feeling (of course).
Jake had always been there for me since the day we met. I was determined to get him out of GROUND and back to I-LAND.
The next day, it was the time for individual voting. I made sure to wake up first thing in the morning and vote for Jake. I was certain he would improve everything he had learned.
I then took a jog around the gardens of I-LAND and then stopped my tracks as I saw GROUND right in front of me. But I had a terrible vision and resumed jogging away from the building. I felt tears streaming out from my eyes, and this anguish emotion I had.
I must have done at least 20 laps around I-LAND and I came back inside with sweat beads clinging on my forehead. I took a sip of water and sat down. I burst into tears and whispered Jake’s name. I didn’t know what else I was feeling. But everyone knew that I was “in love” with Jake. My own best friend.
.
.
.
Jake sat in bed. He felt depressed too. But he tried so hard not to make it visible to the other boys in GROUND. Once the lights went out, he took himself out of bed and went outside.
He sat down on the grass near the separate building and let out a deep sigh. He felt tears falling out from his eyes. He choked a few sobs and whispered my name. He figured he would miss me as much as I had missed him.
“Y/N,” he whimpered, “I would come over to I-LAND…but I’m in GROUND now. I need you to be strong for me…vote for me…everyday.”
Ni-Ki then entered and patted Jake’ s shoulder for comfort. He was only fifteen and had so much compassion. He then sat down next to him.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “I had a feeling you loved her so much. How did you end up meeting?”
Jake sniffled, “I met her after Layla, my puppy ran away from me and towards her. She had track pants on and a tank top, wearing a big coat. I figured she was a trainee. So we were rapt in conversation. I thank my puppy every time in my head.”
“Then…how did she end up in I-LAND?”
“Not sure. But it might have something to do with BigHit or something. I know they would have accepted her.”
“I remembered she would mention Bang Si-hyuk constantly when she and the girls would talk. It was as if they were big fans of him or something. Yet, it wasn’t clear if they were the ones who invited the girls to appear on the show.”
“To be honest,” said Jake, still sniffling, “I still believe that she and I will make it in the K-Pop industry. I’ll join a boy band, she can be a solo. I would be sure if she would get the title. Even if she is not native to Korea or fluent in the language.”
“But you seem very close with her,” said Ni-Ki with a snicker, “It seems as though you may show a bit of attraction towards her. Do you like her?”
“Only as a friend,” said Jake, blushing slightly, “But I’m sure she has a crush on me. But she might also like me as a friend too.”
That wasn’t true. Well, liking him as a friend, that was true. But after he went to GROUND, my feelings for him grew. I couldn’t dare tell him that I had a crush on him. It was while I was alone in the bedroom, when I was writing my feelings in my blank diary. Of course I was writing about Jake.
Maki, K, and EJ entered and saw me writing.
“Nani ni tsuite kaite imasu ka? (What are you writing about?)” EJ asked, trying to look through my diary.
I pulled away.
“What does it matter to you?” I replied in a huff.
“Come on,” said Maki, “You can tell us. We ain’t stupid!”
“‘We’re not stupid’.” I said, correcting Maki’s grammar.
“It’s about Jake, isn’t it?” K said with a smirk.
“No…” I stammered, “He and I are just friends. Nothing else!”
“Then how come you blush every time we mention him?” asked Maki, winking.
“Because I am embarrassed with the way you bring up that topic! That’s how come!”
The six new I-LANDers then entered and we reunited. The rest of the girls went home and stayed in I-LAND, where they said I “truthfully” belong.
Before bed, I eventually got the nerve to call Jake. It had been two days already. I wanted to let him know that I was doing all right. But I also wanted to know if he was doing all right as well.
“Hello?” said Jake, picking up the call.
“Hi, Jake,” I said, with my voice starting to break.
“Are you okay, Y/N?”
“I’m fine. I’m okay.”
“Your voice seems shaky. Are you sure you are all right?”
“Mm-hm.”
But Jake knew I wasn’t all right. It wasn’t the same without him here in I-LAND. He was the closest one I had been with. And those * voters decided to ruin his chances and go to GROUND.
“It’s okay.” Jake said, as I choked a sob.
“No, it’s not,” I cried, “It’s not fine! I want you here. I want you to be away from GROUND. I don’t want you to get eliminated again! I want you up here…with me!”
“I want to be up there with you,” Jake said, “I want to be with you too. I…I really do.”
“Jake…I really miss you!”
“And…I miss you too…Y/N.”
I hung up and burst into tears.
After a while, when everyone else was asleep, I snuck out of the bedroom and went to the living room with my mobile phone. I looked at an old picture of me and my mum on our trip to Kilkenny when I was fourteen, my home town. And then, I swiped to the next photo and saw a selfie of me and Jake, during the days we first met. But it brought back so much nostalgia, I wondered what it would be like if we hadn’t gone to I-LAND. But that would mean we wouldn’t have the slightest chance of debuting.
I then turned off my phone and went to sleep on the couch.