Sponsors (3)

Joon-woo, with all his might, placed Reggie on his own bed. Reggie wouldn't let Joon-woo go, entrapping Joon-woo by his waist in a tight hug. Joon-woo felt Reggie's tears stain his shirt. 

"If you'd like… I'll leave you guys be…" Ryeo Hyun nodded awkwardly, sensing the odd vibe. 

Joon-woo shook his head, as if non-verbally begging the older to stay. 

"Yong Hyung, Du-ho and Hyun-Ok-ah invited me over anyway… haha…" Ryeo Hyun lied through his teeth. The buff man slipped out of the dorm he had just walked in. Joon-woo held back flipping him off. 

Reggie appeared to not even notice Ryeo Hyun, simply crying in sometimes audible versions of Joon-woo's name. 

Joon-woo patted Reggie on the back, awkwardly standing while Reggie sat, wrapping his arms around Joon-woo's waist. Reggie showed no signs of letting go and Joon-woo was a bit uncomfortable. He'd been more sensitive about physical contact ever since his last nightmare. 

"Reggie… Are you– What happened?" Joon-woo asked, his hand ruffled in Reggie's hair. 

"I'm a bad leader… Joon-ah, I'm the worst leader..!" Reggie sobbed incoherently.

Joon-woo frowned. Team troubles, leader troubles. Such things reminded Joon-woo of Mi Yong's struggles to lead Team One in the first challenge. 

"I'm sure you're not. Yong Hyung thought so too, but is he?" 

Reggie shook his head, "No– I really am bad… I really am… I can't tell them off, I can't help lead them, I can't control them…" 

Joon-woo remembered that Baek Du-Ho was on Reggie's team. 

"Du-Ho Hyung didn't help?" Joon-woo asked. He and Baek Du-Ho's history with teams weren't the greatest, especially Baek Du-Ho's leadership. Things were still quite awkward between the two, and Joon-woo wasn't afraid to return to sending snide glares and words Baek Du-Ho's way.

Reggie shook his head. "He– He just sat there while they scolded me and told me to stop trying so hard… He–" 

Joon-woo signaled for Reggie to stop talking. "Hah– Should've known he was still a bastard…" He snided.

Reggie looked up at Joon-woo wide-eyed. He had never heard such harsh language come out of Joon-woo's mouth. 

"Joon-ah…" Reggie spoke, voice still sounding saddened, "Cursing doesn't suit you…" 

Joon-woo wanted to scoff at that. He cursed the innocent appearance he had, and cursed Baek Du-Ho for not changing as he had shown throughout getting closer to the group. Joon-woo hated people like Baek Du-Ho. He hated people who bystander when they felt inferior, but abused their positions of power. People like Baek Du-Ho were selfish and Joon-woo's industry pet peeve. 

Joon-woo's waist was released from the tight hug and Reggie wiped at his tears.

"Hyung," Joon-woo began, "Do you want to do a double group practice tomorrow? Your group and my group." 

Reggie tilted his head at Joon-woo. 

"Would that even get approved..?" Reggie asked after a moment of silence. 

Joon-woo paused. Would it? He figured with a little work he could get the producers to agree. He looked at Reggie confidently, Reggie's face was still coated in tears and his cheeks were puffy. 

"I'll make it so." Joon-woo replied. 

Reggie looked at Joon-woo curiously, rubbing at his eyes. "You're the weirdest dongsaeng I know… I feel immature around you, though I'm older…" He incoherently muttered. 

Maybe because I'm mentally 29 years old… Joo-woo thought. But he couldn't tell Reggie that, could he?

–+–

"A group practice?" Chang Dae-Jung, the apparent producer, looked at Joon-woo curiously. "As in multiple groups practicing… together?" 

Joon-woo had approached the producer as he went to leave the room where they were doing some last interviews. People were around and Joon-woo knew this would make him seem like a PD pick to the maximum. But he found such things necessary.

Joon-woo shook his head, "I thought it to be similar to a mid-check point showcase, where each team performs what they have." He paused on his words. What would convince a money and drama hungry producer? "It can shed light on differences in team preparations and harmony…" He chose his words carefully. 

Chang Dae-Jung nodded at Joon-woo's words, stroking his chin. "Certainly, that sounds plausible…" The brute of a producer suddenly smiled. "It seems all your growth went to your brain only, hah!" The producer joked, gesturing at Joon-woo's height. "You're playing it smart, kid." He roughly patted Joon-woo on the back. 

Joon-woo was embarrassed. Chang Dae-Jung wasn't exactly quiet, so passing by contestants and staff overheard. 

"Even with the phone call tricks you played! Huh?" Chang Dae-Jung continued. Would Joon-woo's orphan plotline be played into now? Did that mean they wanted to paint and produce him in a pitiful light? Perhaps that meant good…

"He's f*cking crazy… Trying to push an evil editing scenario…"

"What a b*tch, is he trying to get into Producer Dae-Jung's pants?"

"Wouldn't be surprised…"

"My team hasn't even assigned a drummer to start the original drum segment, and he's pulling this?" 

Joon-woo definitely wasn't helping his PD pick image. If he were a girl still, he would've been accused of sleeping with the producers.

"Haha… Yes, Producer-nim…" Joon-woo awkwardly joked along. 

People were staring, hard. Among them, Joon-woo noticed, was Baek Du-Ho. There was slight anxiety in his expression. Anything for Reggie, Joon-woo reminded himself, for Reggie. Joon-woo sent Baek Du-Ho a deep and despising stare. 

"Any more ideas, you come to me, yeah?" Chang Dae-Jung dismissed. 

Joon-woo nodded with a short bow. "Definitely, thank you for letting me suggest something in the first place."

As Joon-woo walked away, he tried to seem confident. He tried to play the role of a teacher's pet well enough. Chang Dae-Jung even muttered something about Joon-woo being cute or something. Joon-woo silently thanked the older producer. Perhaps his odds at debuting were increasing?

For now, though, Joon-woo had to focus on preparing his team to absolutely crush the soul's of Reggie's team (minus Reggie's soul of course). He wondered how he could make his original guitar segment even better.