Minjoo put her phone down the moment she had read the message. She then placed her hands on her head, completely messing up her hair—not knowing what to do now. Yuri was left still staring at her phone in worry. 

"That's it. Nothing good ever happens to me." Minjoo said with a chuckle, hair all messed up when she lifted her head. 

Yuri sighed, putting her phone away as she helped fixed her friend's hair. 

"Don't say that. That's not true. No one knows what will happen next." She says, making Minjoo listen to her. "Do you? 'Cause I don't. You'll never know when things might make a different turn."

Minjoo stared at Yuri with a pout. She knew her friend was making her see the bright side and was staying positive for her even if she knew that all things were going downhill. 

She hugged Yuri tightly, burying her face on her friend's shoulder. Yuri held her still. 

"You really think so? You really think there's still a chance of fixing all this?" Minjoo asked, her voice muffled by Yuri's shirt. 

Yuri sighed again. "It won't be easy but I know there'll be a way to fix this, there always is."

Minjoo nodded. She stayed in Yuri's hold for a few minutes before pulling away. No one dared to speak after that. 

"So," Yuri then said, breaking the silence a few minutes later. "are you going to talk to her before the last challenge starts? It says in the text that it'll start two days from now."

Minjoo grabbed her phone to look at the message again. Yuri was right, she had two days left before another challenge starts. She decided to think it over before giving Yuri an answer. 

"I think..." Minjoo started. "it'll be better to just let her be for now. I wouldn't risk damaging more on what we have just for this contest. I know that she needs time and I'll give her that. Might as well lose this contest than make things worst."

Yuri nodded as she take in Minjoo's words. "Probably the best thing you can do for now so, I'm all for it."

--

Two days have passed and it was already the day of the last challenge. Minjoo and Yujin still haven't talked to each other the past few days and so, Yuri was the one who came with her to the spot where the challenge will be held. 

Just like what is said on the message, the last challenge will be held over by the beach—also similar to the place that they've been holding the previous challenges. 

Upon arriving there, they saw that the other pairs already arrived. Minjoo spotted Yujin by the far left, right next to Yena. 

Even if they still weren't on good terms yet, she knew she needed to be where Yujin was as she was her partner after all. And so, both her and Yuri went to where the two were but instead of going over to Yujin's side, Minjoo stuck close to Yuri. 

Surveying the place, Minjoo wondered what the last challenge will be. Since it's the last one, she assumed that it will be grand and hard to do as it will be the final one that they'll accomplish and will also determine who the winner is. Instead, what she saw wasn't all as huge and imposing as she had expected. 

What was in front of her was the least of things that she'd thought she'd see for the final challenge. In front of them laid three long ropes with a huge cloth placed in the middle. Minjoo struggled to think how all of this was going to be used for. 

"Good morning, everyone!" Tiffany's voice boomed throughout the place as she now had a lapel microphone with her. 

"Oh sorry, I forgot to fix the volume." She said, laughing as she adjusted her microphone's volume. "Okay, I think that's the right volume."

She cleared before starting again. "How are you all feeling?"

There was a chorus of different answers from the students. Minjoo noticed that it was only her and Yujin who didn't respond. 

"Good to know that you're all feeling well and excited. And now, let's head on to what we have for today." Tiffany motioned on the TV screen behind her as it displayed a text. 

"For today, you will be working in two teams of six. This challenge will be the final one as you may all know and with that, it will be a group challenge." Moonbin said as the screen showed animation of two groups with six people in each. 

Hushed conversations started among the students as Moonbin finished speaking. 

"Now, now. I know you all have many questions to ask but I assure you, we'll answer all of them once we finish this activity. So let's get started then, shall we?" Tiffany gestured for something as one of the faculty staff placed a table in between Tiffany and Moonbin. Another one then placed a box with a hole in the very top. 

"In order to decide who your teammates will be, each pair will have to draw a ball here." Tiffany raised the box for them to see. "These balls are color-coded and it could be either a yellow one or a blue one. The color that you will pick will be the group that you are in."

"Is the first instruction clear to you guys?" Moonbin asked. 

The students all answered with a 'Yes'.

"We'll call your names by pair and one representative from the two shall come forward and pick from the balls here." Tiffany said, grabbing a clipboard and started calling names of each pairs. 

Eunbi and Hyewon's name were called first. Eunbi was the one who stepped forward, putting her hand inside the box, and ending up getting a yellow ball. Tiffany said that she can hold on to it for now until all the other pairs have gotten theirs. 

The next ones came and did just like what Eunbi did. Chaeyeon was the one who volunteered and ended up getting a blue ball. Chaewon was next who got a blue ball just like Chaeyeon. Yena— after much persuasion from Yuri—stepped forward and ended up getting a yellow ball. 

After Yena and Yuri's name were called, Yujin and Minjoo's name were called next. 

Minjoo didn't know whether to come forward or wait for Yujin to do so. She looked over to the side, seeing Yujin looking down with her eyebrows furrowed, still not looking at her. When Minjoo decided that she'll be the one volunteering, Yujin walked forward and grabbed one of the balls herself. They ended up getting a yellow one. 

The last pair (being Wonyoung and Nako) automatically drew a blue ball as the teams from the yellow ones were now complete. After doing so, Tiffany asked them to go with their corresponding groups—the yellow team being on the left side, the blue on the right. 

Minjoo took note of who she had in her team. Excluding Yujin, she got Eunbi, Hyewon, Yena, and Yuri in it. She thought that she went into a good team and thanked Yujin in her mind for picking the yellow one. 

"Alright, I think we got pretty good teams for the final challenge. Don't you think?" Tiffany asked Moonbin who nodded his head with a smile. "Are there any objections with your current group?"

Thankfully, no one objected and so, they proceeded on with the challenge. 

"Now that you have your team, let me explain the rules." Moonbin says, facing the screen behind them. 

"For today you will be doing a blindfolded tug of war. As you can see, we have three ropes here. Your goal is to pull as many ropes to your side in order to win a round. There'll be a total of three rounds." Moonbin explained. 

"It is also called blindfolded tug of war as you will not be able to see how many people are holding each end of the rope. That cloth," Moonbin pointed at the huge white cloth in the middle. "will be raised high to obscure your vision of the other team before you start pulling. Once you've decided your places and how many people will guard each rope, that is when the cloth will be let down."

An animation on what the challenge will be were now playing on the screen as Moonbin explained it. 

"This doesn't sound like a difficult challenge now, is it?" Tiffany asked. The students nodded unsurely. "So, do we have any questions before we start?"

As soon as Tiffany asked that, Yena had her hand up in the air. Tiffany pointed for her to speak. 

"Uhm, Ma'am. Is this really the final challenge? How are we supposed to win this as a pair if we're working in groups and have different scores? Won't we end up getting the same score as a team but not as a pair?" Yena asked. 

Tiffany smiled at her question. "Now that...will be answered a later. Let's start this challenge!"

Yena's eyes widened as she looked around, hoping that someone will back her up with her inquiry. As it turns out, no one did. The others could only follow what Tiffany said and started taking their places. 

"Yujin-ah!" Yena called out. "You're not backing me up with this? Don't you think it's a little fishy how things are turning out?"

Yujin could only shrug, going over to Eunbi's side. "They said they'll explain it later. Don't fret it." She patted Yena's shoulder, pulling her along to where their other teammates were gathering. They were also given gloves by the faculty staff to protect their hands from the ropes. 

Eunbi was the one who became the leader for the team. She started discussing what possible ways to win the rounds easily. She also asked if they had any suggestions that they'd like to share. 

"Hmm, I think one of the strongest of us should hold one rope all by themself." Yujin suggested. "No matter how many people are at the end of it, they could hold it for a while until the others starts helping. Also, they won't have three people holding one rope as the other two won't be guarded evenly. And if they do it by two's, their guard won't be really strong as not all can pull that hard. We might need our members in pulling the others."

Eunbi considered Yujin's suggestion. "Alright, I think that sounds good. But who do we give that position to?"

Minjoo looked around, trying to gauge who will fit the said position. Between the six of them, she could only choose two who'll fit for the job—Yujin and Hyewon. 

Yujin had her lips pursed, thinking. "I'll do it." She says, volunteering. "I was the one who suggested it anyways and some of you might need extra help."

"Ho, ho, ho." Yena suddenly says, tapping Yujin's arm. "Our girl here has some muscles to show." She teased that made Yujin roll her eyes playfully. 

"Whatever." Yujin says, pushing Yena slightly. 

"Okay. Now that that's settled, let's go figure out how the other distributions will go." Eunbi says, bringing back their attention. 

After minutes of planning, they finally decided on a strategy. Yujin will hold the rope farthest from the left, Eunbi and Yena will hold the one in the middle, and Hyewon, Minjoo, and Yuri will hold the one on the right. 

"Planning time is over. Please go through your positions!" Tiffany announced as the cloth in the middle was raised. 

The members all went through their places, giving a nod to each other as a sign that they're ready. 

"On my count, the cloth will be let down and you guys can start pulling on the ropes." They heard Tiffany's voice from their right side. The cloth blocking their view of the MCs. 

"3... 2... 1... Start pulling!"

As the cloth was released, the two groups were greeted face-to-face with one another. Since it was the first round, no one dared to move when the cloth was removed. It took all 12 of them by surprise to experience the challenge for themselves, not knowing what to do next. 

Just as the MCs thought they wouldn't start for a few more minutes, Yujin started pulling. At the other team's side, it was Sakura and Nako who held the rope. With them still in their stunned state, Yujin was able to pull the rope easily—making it slither to their side smoothly. 

That made the others started pulling too. 

Over by the middle where Eunbi and Yena guarded the rope, the other team had Chaeyeon and Chaewon pulling it. From where Minjoo and the rest were, Wonyoung and Hitomi pulled the other team's rope. 

Since Minjoo's team had three people guarding the rope on the right, they were able to pull the rope to their side, only with a little struggle as Wonyoung tripped when she tried putting on much force in pulling. 

The real struggle was the rope in the middle. After Sakura and Nako's defeat, they immediately went over to Chaeyon and Chaewon's side to help them gain at least one rope for this round. Yujin quickly helped Eunbi and Yena too but the four were pouring all their efforts into pulling the single rope. 

When Minjoo's side finished theirs, they also went to help their teammates out, same with Wonyoung and Hitomi. But since the yellow team gained strength from having two ropes already on their side, they ended up winning the first round. 

"Yay! We did it!" Yuri cheered. The yellow team formed a huge circle and started jumping around in joy. 

"Hah! Take that Chaewon's team!" Yena said after they finished celebrating that made Chaewon blow raspberry at her. 

"Wow! That was a fierce first round. Congrats to yellow team for having the first point!" Tiffany says as the screen showed their scores with yellow team having a point. 

"They didn't think much of who to put and I think our team is stronger than theirs." Eunbi was exhausted from all the pulling that she did but she still managed to compliment her team. 

"Alright. Let's head on to the next