Today would be their last battle, so Llana would not accept any outcome other than a good one.
Everything was going smoothly, exactly according to her plan.
However, things started to take an unexpected turn after they watched the Minor group's rehearsals.
Llana and the rest of the Major group had gone up on stage after the Minors' rehearsal. While they were getting ready, they suddenly noticed two staff members carrying a bed.
Llana watched as they placed it on stage, imaginary question marks forming above her head.
"What's that for?" Llana asked Jeongyeon, who was watching the scene with the same baffled expression.
"I don't know." Jeongyeon shrugged.
"Please place it over here." The mastermind behind it all, Jihyo, directed the staff.
Llana's brows knitted together as she approached her.
Jihyo had decided to add a bed as an extra background prop, catching everyone off guard with the sudden and unannounced addition.
"Thank you!"
Jihyo gave the staff a quick bow.
"What's this for, unnie?" Llana asked, still trying to make sense of it.
"Props." Jihyo flashed a bright smile. "I got inspired while watching the Minors, so I thought of adding something to make our performance more lively."
She had an "aha" moment during the Minor group's rehearsal. Seeing them use a bench, a human-sized teddy bear, and a scooter as props made her want to incorporate something similar into their stage.
Momo walk over and asked, "Why add something like this all of a sudden without telling us?"
The others also gathered around, their eyes filled with curiosity.
"Oh…" Jihyo blinked, then lightly hit her forehead. "I forgot. Mianhe!"
"I got the idea while watching the other team rehearse and thought, why not try something like that too?"
Llana let out a quiet sigh. "Then what are you planning to do with the bed, unnie?"
It was already there, so there was nothing they could do about it now.
"Ugh… nothing much. It's just part of the background." Jihyo smiled awkwardly, her teeth slightly clenched.
"Nothing?" Llana looked at her with a deadpan expression.
"Wouldn't it be redundant if we don't do anything with it?" Sana asked, tilting her head in confusion.
Llana nodded in Sana's direction, her hand subtly gesturing as if to say 'exactly', before looking back at Jihyo..
"Then I can just lie down on it, or we can, before the performance starts." Jihyo climbed onto the bed and lay down without hesitation. "It'll look weird if I'm the only one. Sana, come lie down with me."
"Then… what about us?" Tzuyu asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Maybe we should move the bed to the center instead," Nayeon suggested, pointing.
"No, I think this spot works better."
"Or maybe we could…"
"This..."
"But..."
Llana closed her eyes for a moment, feeling a wave of fatigue as the others began throwing in their opinions, their voices overlapping one after another.
Well, only the unnie line. The younger members simply stayed at the side, watching them argue among themselves.
"We won't get anything done if you keep arguing like this, unnies. Especially since you're all talking at the same time, we can't even understand you." Llana said in a calm voice.
"Just a reminder, our mics are open. Everyone can hear us." Chaeyoung added with a dry laugh.
"The suggestion of Jihyo-unnie is actually fine. We could all just lie down on the bed so it won't look awkward if some are standing." Llana added.
"And it would be better if we place it on the side and just tilt it slightly so the corner at the foot faces the audience," Jihyo followed.
"But what about the ones who sing first? They need to get to their formation immediately," Nayeon pointed out. "So it might be better if the bed is in the center."
"But it wouldn't look good if it's in the center. It's distracting," Jeongyeon countered.
Jihyo nodded. "That's what I'm saying."
Llana started calculating the distance between the side, where Jihyo and Jeongyeon wanted the bed, and the center of the stage.
It's a bit far…
She agreed with Nayeon's concern. It was indeed far, and it would be difficult for everyone to reach their formation in time. If they followed that setup, it could disrupt their rhythm. They would have to move too quickly, making it look messy and affecting the overall quality of their performance.
'Let's try their suggestion first.'
"Let's try their suggestion first."
She was not the type to ignore others' opinions. As someone who had been used to leading since elementary up to college, she had learned that being in charge did not mean always having the final say or disregarding others. She believed in trying every idea first before deciding whether it should be accepted or not..
"I'm the first one, so I'll position myself here instead." Llana pointed to a spot, then looked at Nayeon. "It should be manageable, unnie. Want to try?"
"Sure."
Nayeon nodded, and everyone moved to their assigned positions to test it out.
And as expected, it did not work.
So they placed the bed at the center instead and tried again.
"Oh, this works." Llana gave a thumbs up, a satisfied smile forming on her lips.
"Alright, let's start again."
They returned to their positions, lying down or leaning against the bed.
Just as they were nearing the end, Jihyo made another suggestion, this time about changing the ending part, specifically during Chaeyoung's rap.
She proposed making the dance section a bit more energetic.
If it were up to Llana, she would rather not change it anymore. The earlier adjustment had still been manageable, but altering the ending would be more difficult to execute.
The others also looked a little uncertain about the change, but Jihyo seemed slightly insistent. So out of respect, no one openly disagreed and simply went along with it.
Llana allowed her to try the suggestion first. However, the original choreography she had taught was based on the system. It was more refined and cleaner. In the end, she had to turn it down.
They were also running out of time. If Jihyo had suggested it before, it would have been fine.
But making changes to the choreography on the day of their performance was too risky. It was not a risk they could afford to take. This was their last battle. If they made a mistake, Llana could not guarantee that all of them would remain in the Major group and debut as TWICE.
Llana approached Jihyo and gently pushed her head mic aside before speaking in a low voice.
"What you want, Jihyo-unnie, is a bit risky. You have to understand that we do not have enough time. If we push your suggestion, we will have to take the risk of executing it perfectly without mistakes. Otherwise, we might jeopardize our positions."
They weren't allowed to speak without their microphones. That was the rule. As long as they were recording, everything had to be said on mic. Still, Llana didn't want the others to hear, especially their teammates. She wasn't worried about it being picked up by Jihyo's mic, though since her gain was lower.
Both she and Jihyo were leading the group. She did not want Jihyo's authority to be questioned or make it seem like there was conflict between them. She also did not want to embarrass her in front of everyone, so she chose to keep it between them.
Llana could tell that Jihyo was nervous and not thinking clearly. It felt like her mind was pushing her to do something, anything, just to ease the anxiety building inside her.
And it was starting to affect everyone.
They were already stressed from the sudden changes in the intro. Adding more would only give them more to think about and make them more prone to mistakes.
"Ne, sorry about that." Jihyo smile nodding at Llana, she didn't take offense or hold any resentment toward what Llana said. She understood Llana's concern. In fact, she felt embarrassed about her behavior and guilty for trying to pressure the group.
In the end, she apologized to them and assured everyone that the part would no longer be changed. After that, they resumed rehearsing.
Llana felt relieved that there were no more issues. From that point on, the only thing on their minds was their performance later. She could only hope that nothing would go wrong.