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"Thank you so much for taking care of us all this time!!"
Both those who had been eliminated and those who made it through bowed deeply in perfect unison and shouted with all their might as if they had rehearsed it.
The unexpected show of gratitude brought a lump to my throat.
"Guys..."
At that moment, even Do Ran-Hee beside me, Chief Lee Dong-Min, and all the Hoop Entertainment talent agents started tearing up as they watched the kids bow.
"God, these kids... what are they doing..."
"Why are you crying...? Don't cry, okay? Sniff."
For the past two weeks, the Hoop Entertainment talent agents had sacrificed their personal lives to give each participant meticulous care. They talked with the wavering ones in the counseling room to stabilize them, and after every lesson, they gave them massages to prevent injuries during their growth spurts. And they did it because all of us at Hoop Entertainment genuinely thought of these 132 participants of Project I.O.A as our own trainees.
They were still so young, though, that we never expected them to recognize our efforts. Today, the ones who didn't make it would be heartbroken and those who did would be anxious about what lies ahead. Yet astonishingly, the kids understood exactly how much we had done for them as if proving that sincerity always finds its way through.
'Thank you, kids.'
Thanks to them, I was once again certain that this second life I chose was the right one. However, there was one problem.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
The kids' tears soaked the stage above, and the talent agents' tears drenched the floor below. It wouldn't stop. We had all grown so attached and no one could bring themselves to speak of parting. Even the crew who were supposed to dismantle the stage couldn't move.
In the end, I stepped forward again. Forcing the words past my lips, I tried to comfort the kids...
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