ch. 58

"well you look like yourself, but you're somebody else."

-you're somebody else

"min sonyoung- 78 votes!"

the crowd goes wild as the girl bows to the audience, a proud smile written on her face after taking the lead in the point system. gracefully walking down the stairs, she flashes the next participant a sinister grin.

"we're definitely going to get her to leave," she says, her voice laced in malice.

siyeon returns an identical grin as she passes by her friend. "once i take the lead, there will be no possibility for that bitch to win."

today is the day of the public evaluation, where those who hold grudges against eunbi participate in a contest to see who can achieve the most points from the audience. the crowd is filled with people of the community, so no biased votes can be inserted throughout the event.

the light blond girl confidently walks onto the stage as the crowd is still discussing the previous performance they witnessed. her footsteps echo from the platform, a bright smile on her lips, and all eyes are now on her. standing in the middle of the attention, she does a polite bow to the people in front of her before introducing herself.

"hello! i am kim siyeon, a student from class a. today, i will be dancing to "city girls" by chris brown and young thug. i hope you enjoy!"

she receives excited applause from the audience and the music begins playing. naturally, her body starts swaying to the beat until lyrics flow through, her dance moves coming to life. her expression changed immediately and the whole atmosphere on the stage adjusts to her charisma.

she has always loved dancing ever since she was a kid. when she was younger, she participated in every talent show and won each one in her category. her parents would be in the back, cheering her on, with huge posters in their hands. hearing her name chanted over and over brought confidence to her while she performs on stage.

and in the sea of people, one of her biggest supporters cheered her on.

that person was park eunbi.

she was one of the reasons why she wanted to pursue her dreams of becoming a dancer. her encouragement was like the fire to the gasoline, fueling the desire from within her. every compliment she gave her is like taking a step closer to her goal.

eunbi meant the world to her.

so when she found that they were going to one of the best performing arts schools, she bursted into tears and hugged the life out of the girl. she never once thought she would be achieving her dreams along with her best friend.

but everything stopped on the day of their evaluation.

eunbi's piercing shriek rang throughout the stage as siyeon watched in horror. the vibration of her voice brought chills down her spine, eyes widened at the sight. her excitement dies down and disappointment fills her emptiness.

she was speechless, absolutely speechless.

her? a vocalist?

she remembers how she let out a dumbfounded laugh at the sound of the horrible performance.

from there, her superiority complex was born. she wanted to be around those who were talented, who were gifted, who were worth the friendship. she wanted to make her way to the top, where she belonged.

she was better than eunbi, and no one can change that.

striking her final pose, siyeon stands on stage with her chest rising up and down. silence washes over the crowd at the amazing dance they have witnessed as the announcer tells the people to put their votes. the sound of points calculating can be heard from behind her until a long beep echoes along the platform, causing her to close her eyes.

slowly, she turns around to see her score and gasps in surprise at the sight while the announcer speaks into their microphone.

"kim siyeon- 89 votes!"

the audience cheers loudly for the girl, whistles and shouts resonating in her ears. her hands tremble with happiness and a proud smile makes its way to her lips as she turns around, bowing to the people before her.

she rushes down the stairs to see all her friends from class a congratulating her and she hugs all of them with the excitement she has. tears of joy slip from her face as those around her continue to compliment her on her performance.

she was better than eunbi, and no one can change that.

abruptly, the noise around her becomes quiet and whispers begin circulating questions around the area. she notices how her friends are pointing at the stage as if a new contestant decided to challenge the new high score.

"what is she doing here?"

"does she hold a grudge against eunbi?"

"this is a good thing though, right? like if she performs, then eunbi would have no chance of winning."

curious of this person they are talking about, siyeon shifts her gaze from her companions to the stage to see a person with a mask on stage with a microphone.

the masked singer has decided to participate in the event.

the light blond girl's lips curve into a lopsided grin, a mischievous chuckle erupting from her throat.

not only did eunbi get most of class a to hate her, but one of the best singers of the school as well. with that, the score will be so high that even eunbi herself cannot be able to achieve.

this could not get any better.

to think that eunbi would be stubborn enough to plan her own defeat like that.

since everyone was anticipating her introduction, the masked singer lifts the microphone to her mouth and speaks into it.

"hello everyone!" she exclaims, allowing everyone to hear her speaking voice for the first time. "i am the masked singer from class f and today-"

immediately, siyeon gets struck with realization and muffles everyone's voice.

no... this can't be.

siyeon suddenly breaks into a run to the sound booth, anger flowing through her veins. she can hear her friends shouting at her, but she pays no attention to them.

this can't be real.

the masked singer, who is oblivious of the girl's actions, faces the crowd with a grin on her face, moving to the music a little. the audience copies her movements with their eyes closed as they immerse themselves to the soft sounds of her song's instrumental. knowing that her cue to sing is approaching, the brunette takes in a huge breath before bring the lyrics to life with her voice.

the people who were working at the sound booth notice an unauthorized person entering the backstage and one of the workers blocked siyeon's path, so she cannot fiddle around with anything and ruin the occurring performance.

"hey!" they shout quietly. "you're not supposed to be here!"

this can't be happening.

siyeon can feel her hands holding her back as she tries to get to the cords. not going down without a fight, she struggles to get through these people's grasps, slowly inching closer to her goal.

this can't be true.

an inhumane screech leaves her lips.

out of all the people...

why did eunbi have to be the masked singer?