The room is suffocating, the silence deafening. Every breath feels like it could shatter the fragile stillness, but there’s no escape from the tension hanging in the air. YG stands at the front, his gaze heavy as it sweeps over each of you. The final selection is at hand, and you feel like you’re suffocating under the weight of it. Every heartbeat is too loud. Every second stretches into eternity.

Then, the names are called.

"Hyun Seung."

The words hit like a punch. His face falls. For a moment, it’s like he doesn’t even hear them, standing still, frozen in disbelief. His eyes flicker—confusion, hurt, and something else. Slowly, he nods, his body moving on autopilot as he steps forward. He picks up his things with shaky hands, bowing his head, refusing to show the ache behind his eyes. The pain in his silence is louder than any scream.

“Seungri.”

This time, it’s a shockwave that crashes through him. He blinks rapidly, as though trying to process what just happened. But the moment is too real, too cruel to deny, but he leaves.

T.O.P stands unmoving, his gaze cold, distant, and the weight of everything they’ve all been through presses down on him. He says nothing, but the flicker of hurt in his eyes is undeniable. Daesung, ever the optimist, tries to force a smile, but it falters before it can reach his eyes. His lips tremble, and the moment he speaks, you hear the break in his voice. “We made it, together.” His words are hollow. His usual warmth feels lost in the reality of what just happened. He’s holding it together, but barely.

And then... it’s your turn. Your name.

It feels like an echo, unreal, as if you’re watching from the outside. You made it, but it’s not the victory you thought it would be.

GD and Taeyang, already set for debut, just watch in pain, disbelief, getting up to comfort the rest as soon as YG exits the room.